


Defy The Earth

by baeconandeggs, iexoeris



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Powers, Angst, ChanBaek - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, It has romance and fluff and love, KaiSoo - Freeform, M/M, MAMA AU, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Minor Character Death, Music Video: MAMA (EXO), OT12 (EXO), Romance, Sleep, This is not as bad as it looks, fight, leave comments please, mamaau, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 12:31:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/iexoeris/pseuds/iexoeris
Summary: “The Earth is well and alive,” He started, “Spirits and the roots of this very Earth move in the dark, ready to feast upon its human inhabitants with one aim.”Chanyeol’s throat was dry; his chest tight, “And – and what would that be?”Baekhyun’s voice was heavy; almost ancient and his eyes were shining with a dark glint – one that contained pain and the truth, when he said –“Revenge.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theworldwithkaisoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theworldwithkaisoo/gifts).



> **Recipient:** theworldwithkaisoo  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
>   
> 
> **Author's Note:** First of all, I would like to thank the mods who put up with me. Next, my fam=ily for making me write 20 pages in one day. Third, myself for not throwing my laptop out of the window because this was the longest word-vomit I've ever written, in like, three days, because school was on my back. Fourth, thanks to my sister for protecting my laptop when it was actually about to break. This story made me stay awake till 4 AM typing all day long. And I want to thank NCT, or WayV specifically, for performing Lovely by Billie Elish, because I swear when I heard that song, I had inspiration raging like a beast, and also, thanks Lil Dicky for that Earth song. And lastly thanks EXO, for inspiring me. This fic is like 101 pages long - the only one I've completed and written like this and I'm thankful.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> My Twitter - iEXOeris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his 18th birthday, Chanyeol decides to be brave and embrace the sleeping world. He definitely did not expect the events to fold out like they did.

# Chapter 1

 

The night deepened as tendrils of darkness mixed outside with a few stars as the night sky stood in its complete glory above all. Chanyeol stared up at the sky; his breath held. The lights in all the neighboring houses were already turned off, however there was still a little movement in the city – few bikes sped up on the roads, as people rushed to their houses. He could hear the distinct murmuring of some people in this stillness. Still, the loud voices of his parents conversing in their bed, thanks to the thin walls of their houses were audible.

Then the clock ticked and his alarm rung – 12AM. It was midnight.

Every soul stopped.

The voices of his parents came to an abrupt stop. The murmurings around the city stopped. The honking of the vehicles suddenly became a distinct memory to his ears. The silence of the night filled every empty space, as the whole world fell into the deep state of slumber, as it did every midnight.

All of it, except one soul.

_Park Chanyeol._

His eyes were wide, and lips parted. There was some fear and unrest in his chest as it suddenly got harder to breath for him – knowing he was the only one awake.

It wasn’t a new discovery – he had been aware for quite some time. He was sure of it ever since, he had kept his parents awake until midnight on his birthday when he was ten and they fell asleep simultaneously in the middle of their conversation.

And they didn’t even realize it in the morning.

Same with his friends – nobody realized, except Park Chanyeol, who stayed awake. In the span of the past eight years, he had dealt with this discovery all right, but that didn’t mean the phenomenon ever failed to render him breathless and mildly shocked. Every night, he’d sit by his window, watching the world fall asleep – sometimes, he’d be brave and go out for short walks before running home, crying, because in the night, where he was the only one awake, the silence and the dark seemed like his worst enemy. It was as if he was walking through a dead land, filled with breathing corpses and sometimes, he felt they would never wake up…

He blinked as he felt trembles beneath his feet. He was used to it – in the night, it seemed the weirdest of things happened. Maybe, it was a mini earthquake. He wasn’t much alarmed, because in the night, when everybody would be asleep, it was useless to be alarmed. If the house fell, nothing could stop it.

Chanyeol got up from where he was perched on the window sill. That day, he had turned eighteen. He was going to try and be brave once more – maybe, this time he’d be able to enjoy the dark, the earthly glory of the sleeping world where only his footsteps echoed in the dark.

He locked the doors of his house when he stepped out – useless, but something that was a habit. He walked randomly, away from the house. If he lost his way, he had until 4:30 AM to find it again, when the spell of the sleep would break. His footsteps sounded heavy against the asphalt – they were only noises except for few loud snores that he infrequently encountered. He gulped, the cold air hitting the back of his throat and making him thirsty. He had always wondered why he was an exception but he had never arrived at any answer. He had categorized and re-categorized himself many times, but had never found anything different in him than others.

So, he didn’t know.

And, since he was the only one awake, he would never know.

 

 

Chanyeol had walked really far away from his home and was currently walking in a highway sort of area. He already lived near the edge of the city, where there were more houses as compared to apartments in the city and now he walked further to the countryside, surrounded by huge farmhouses and spreads of green land. There were many silent, smooth, big and clean roads here that he felt he could walk upon endlessly. He didn’t feel weirded out by the silence here, since the countryside was always silent, however, he did feel feelings of dread tug at his heart as he wondered how he’d get back home.

He kept walking.

Suddenly, there was a sound. His eyes widened as his footsteps stopped, planting himself in the middle of the road. It was the sound of a car, driving really fast. It came from the road right to the intersection ahead. He couldn’t see any car, thanks to a huge farmhouse blocking his view, but there was a sound of a car. He wasn’t imagining it. And unless this was something robotic, it was a human – who had to be awake.

He ran towards the crossroads. His long legs helped him to run fast towards his destination and upon reaching the center, he looked to his right to see a car coming straight at him. He couldn’t move. The flashlights of the car blinded his vision and he stood paralyzed, his chest clenching when he made contact with a pair of eyes behind the window shield of the car. The other pair of eyes widened and the car swerved and skidded across the road, the back of the car spinning to the front and ultimately crashing into the fence of a farmhouse.

Chanyeol only stood still; perplexed, confused, scared but relieved. He let out a breath. He was alive. The door of the car – a big, black SUV – opened and a figure jumped out. Chanyeol tensed once again, watching the figure. It was small as compared to his huge body stature and was wearing a black hoodie, with jeans and a pair of high-tops. The figure inspected the damage of the car and turned towards Chanyeol, who couldn’t breathe, because he realized that it was a human, who was driving the car in the night, awake. He briefly wondered if it was already 4:30 AM, but he realized that the last time he had checked the time about fifteen minutes ago, it was a quarter to one. It couldn’t possibly be morning yet.

The figure marched up to Chanyeol who stood still. He hadn’t moved an inch. He was too surprised, this new discovery both shocking and scaring. The worst 3’S. As the figure stopped right in front of him, Chanyeol had a few seconds to realize that it was a boy before the figure started shouting at him –

“Why the fuck were you running? And why did you stop right in front of my car? You could have died or I could have died and you damaged my car! Hello, are you listening?” The boy waved a hand in front of Chanyeol’s face and Chanyeol couldn’t help himself as he grabbed his hand. The boy squealed, jumped and let out a string of curses that Chanyeol didn’t resister. He was too busy grabbing the boy’s hand and letting his big, long fingers slide across the thin wrist. He noticed a pulse.

“What the fuck are you doing? Let go of my hand, you dickhead!” The boy’s words registered in his mind this time and he said –

“Fuck, you’re actually alive,” The boy’s eyebrows furrowed and it seemed as if he was going to shout at Chanyeol again before his expression changed. It sort of softened for a moment – his eyes dipping down, the fiery trails of anger lost from his face, a sympathetic look washing over his whole being –

“Oh, I see,” He said, before his expression hardened, the soft, relaxed muscles pulling into a serious and somber look, “You need to come with me, now.” His voice was commanding. Chanyeol creased his forehead.

“What?” He asked; genuine confusion mixed with apprehension. This was a stranger after all.

Suddenly there was some sort of movement beneath his feet. The smaller’s hand reached out to grab Chanyeol by the wrist.

“Now!” The smaller said, pulling Chanyeol towards his car and just in time, because there was a long sound, like thunder and the ground upon which Chanyeol’s feet were was sketched with a huge, long line.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened immediately. He resisted the movements of the little guy and stared at the road in fear and wonder. The guy grabbed his wrist tighter and tried to shake him but Chanyeol’s weight was too much for him. He entered Chanyeol’s vision – good-looking features that were staring at him in confusion, controlled anger and impatience.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!” He commanded Chanyeol and the pause after his words finally made Chanyeol able to speak again.

“You mean come somewhere with you? Are you gonna kidnap me?” He said, pushing the guy away with a strong force but the guy just came back and said –

“If you don’t come with me now, you’re going to wish you were kidnapped.” He said, gritting his teeth and trying desperately to pull Chanyeol towards the car.

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t know what was happening.

“What do you mean-” At that exact moment, as if in response to his half-uttered question, there was a loud rumple and another sickening, crunching sound, and the ground beneath Chanyeol burst open, pushing both him and the little guy into the sky. Chanyeol screamed as he was suspended in the air and then he fell down again, landing near the car. His face was contorted in fear. He didn’t know what was happening. He sat there; shocked, stupid and stupefied. And then suddenly there was huge movement in front of him and the ground in front of him burst open, the asphalt breaking, rocks and hard material raining in all direction and something huge creeped out from the ground.

His first thought was:

_Oops, zombie apocalypse._

His second thought was that zombies weren’t huge pieces of slab which were brown and cut and bleeding green and white. Ropes shot out from the weird thing and Chanyeol, panic-struck, crawled backwards; his heart beating faster and faster and he realized that there were tears in his eyes. He just moved backwards, eyes never shifting once from the weird object. His brain registered the smell of damp earth and the soft core of trees that he recognized thanks to working with his grandfather, who owned a large farmhouse.

And it was then that he realized that this… this was a tree.

So the weird figures must be branches.

They turned towards him – the branches - pointed, and ready to grasp him and he just scooted even more backwards… until his back hit the car.

Shit.

He was so surprised he couldn’t do anything. But suddenly there was another movement from his right, and light poured in the dark – a lot of light. Chanyeol’s eyes instinctively shut, protecting themselves from the intense brightness, however he opened them back again and saw the little guy jumping at the tree with a shard of light. It went on for some while – light against tree and Chanyeol was scared for his life as he tried his best to get up. Just then, the light shard shattered, breaking into pieces and then completely bursting. And the tree went back the way from which it came and soon, it was gone, the roots were gone, everything was gone. The only signs of the attack were the cracked roads and the cuts on Chanyeol’s hands.

It was all silent.

Chanyeol fell back on the ground again, feeling faint. The guy spared him a look and came towards him, kneeling in front of him and Chanyeol unconsciously noticed the beads of sweat that lined up the boy’s face and the pure, _dead_ exhaustion in his eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. Up, get up.” The boy said, helping Chanyeol up even though it seemed to him that the boy needed more support. Then the boy got into the driver’s seat and motioned Chanyeol to enter the passenger seat. And maybe it was the curiosity that lingered on Chanyeol’s mind, or the fresh, raw emotions of fear and surprise that made him too tired to argue or think as himself and made him want to submit or maybe it was the tiredness that weighted down on the boy’s shoulders that made him feel like doing a good deed and obeying – or maybe all of it combined, that made him follow the instructions and he found himself sitting in the SUV, eyes staring straight up ahead, hands clutching the edge of the snug seats as the boy tried his best to drive the car out of the slight ditch. Chanyeol could still feel some vibrations below him and these weren’t the roar of car as it tried it’s very best to follow its commander.

“Oh come on,” The boy muttered, pressing his feet straight down onto the accelerator and the car moved a bit before skidding back down.

“Do you – uh – want me to push the car or something?” Chanyeol suggested. He didn’t know why he felt like helping the boy. He just wanted to. Said boy looked at him – dark eyes looking dead. Chanyeol could see the iris of his eyes – they had no life.

“No. It’s dangerous.” The boy said quietly before pressing onto the accelerator again and this time the car successfully escaped. The boy whooped, “About time!”

He got the car on the road and drove to his right, carefully avoiding the gashes on the road below. As the car drove further away, Chanyeol felt himself relax, which he found strange because he was literally in the presence of a stranger. And that realization brought him to life.

“Where are we going?” He asked the boy.

“To a safe place.” The boy answered, eyes darting across the road, one hand on the steering wheel and another on the gear. Chanyeol looked ahead; the road was big and clean and one-way. They wouldn’t be needing that gear anytime soon.

“Which is?” He prompted. The boy just looked at him, “See, I’ll explain everything when we get there. I’m just… tired. All right? I haven’t slept in two days now and this was the fourth time I used my powers.”

Chanyeol seemed to have only gotten the second line, “What powers?”

The boy looked at him; weirdly; definitely judging, “Um… did you perhaps not understand that the light you saw was my power?”

Chanyeol had no reply. He did. He just couldn’t believe it.

The boy just shook his head, turning away from Chanyeol, “Start accepting things fast. There are a lot of things that you don’t know. I’d say you’ve only just begun living in this world.”

Chanyeol stared at him blankly, “So you’re telling me I spent these past eighteen years uselessly?”

The boy frowns, taking a turn at the same time, “I wouldn’t say you spent them ‘uselessly.’ It was important for character building, however from now on, you’ll realize who you are, what you are, why you are and upon what you’re living. You’ll understand the dark secrets of life and you will know why things happen as things happen.”

Chanyeol blinked, “See, if you’re gonna kidnap me, then please do so without all this fore-talk. This scares me.”

The boy nodded fervently, “It should. It’s traumatizing.”

Chanyeol winced, “I don’t want to know about the ‘dark secrets of life’ then. I’m happy as it is.”

The boy took another turn and he slowed the car, looking at Chanyeol dead in the eyes, “See, all these past years that you spent in oblivion weren’t useless, however, choosing to stay in oblivion makes you really – and I mean, really – useless.”

Chanyeol didn’t know what to replied, so he just shrugged lamely, “Ignorance is bliss.”

The reply came almost immediately, “And bliss is a double-edged sword. There’s a difference between being happy and being obliviously in bliss, while choosing to ignore the misery of others.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but frown at this, “Whose misery?”

The guy slowly edged away from the main road and his eyes were carefully focused but he still replied, “A lot of people,” He changed the gear, “And non-people. For example, the earth, me, and inhabitants of the earth.”

Well that didn’t really clear things up. It only stirred the confusion more. And he was about to ask before the guy said –

“See, I’m tired. I swear I’ll explain everything. I just…” He paused for a while, searching around with one hand in his car deck and picking out a Star-bucks cup and drinking straight from it, “I just need some… energy in me.”

The boy stopped, parking the car at the edge. There was a bush in front of them so Chanyeol couldn’t see where they’ve stopped. The guy turned off the engine and turned to Chanyeol and said –

“But first, hi I’m Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun extended an arm and Chanyeol shrugged and took the hand – it was soft. Everything was weird already – nothing could really surprise him anymore.

“Park Chanyeol.”

  


“Holy shit,” Chanyeol cursed staring at the place he was in. Baekhyun had brought him to this really tall tower type stuff in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a layer of bush and forests and this complex had indoor swimming pools and tennis room and library and everything. The interior was dark – it wasn’t really dark as in black tiled but it seemed more like a cave structure – somewhere along the mixture of nature and modern physics./

Even the air inside was chilled and the place seemed hollow.

“It was actually a cave – a leveled cave. It was developed into this.” Baekhyun said, next to him, holding a new cup of coffee and drinking it at a very fast and alarming rate.

“Okay,” Chanyeol nodded, “And what exactly is this?”

Baekhyun didn’t reply quickly. He scrunched his eyebrows as if in deep thought and then relaxed his forehead, taking another sip and finishing another cup of coffee. He walked up to the coffee-maker placed in the distance near the leather couches in the living room that they were in and made himself another cup. Chanyeol shook his head. So much caffeine intake wasn’t really good for health.

“You’re gonna get sick or something if you keep drinking that,” Chanyeol pointed out and suddenly, there was another voice behind him.

“You’re damn right but he won’t listen. I’ve been telling him this since forever.” Chanyeol turned around in surprise to see a short, white-faced, good-looking man smiling warmly at him, “I’m Kim Junmyeon, the sorta leader here. Call me Suho.”

Chanyeol couldn’t resist the urge to bow, “Park Chanyeol.”

Suho stopped his actions – such as bowing and showing way too much respect to someone who might be his age – and said, “Chill, I am not an old man.”

“He’s not,” Baekhyun confirmed, “Even though he acts like it.”

Chanyeol didn’t miss the slight glare that went Baekhyun’s way before Suho seized up and turned to Chanyeol in a serious demeanor. His serious attitude was a complete switch – the traces of the kind smile were still visible however, the playfulness in his eyes had been replaced by calm, quiet and order. Chanyeol had goosebumps because, Suho, much shorter than him, looked much bigger than him then.

“Anyway, we need to do some basic introductions. So come to our main-office. Baekhyun, follow.” Suho said and started walking away, looking back once to see if Chanyeol was following him and then not looking back again. He expected them to follow him and somehow, Chanyeol found himself doing exactly that. He had no idea why but he felt compelled to. Baekhyun was walking right behind him and that gave him a sort of comfort for some reason because Baekhyun didn’t have a double personality as far as Chanyeol had seen.

Suho led him through the hallway of the living room leading to another small room, where the stairs and elevators and escalators were present. Suho took the stairs and Chanyeol could just follow him; Baekhyun in tow, rolling his eyes seeming way too tired to argue or say anything. And they started up the stairs and they just kept walking – up and up. Chanyeol lost count of how many flights of stairs he had climbed up. He was sweating profusely and his chest was heaving and he was tired and his legs were aching and he was sure that this was the plan that Baekhyun had in mind to kill him. But like, seriously, they’ve climbed more than ten floors. Chanyeol thought he was fit – he wasn’t. Suho’s steps didn’t even slow down and Baekhyun – although slow – didn’t seem completely dead like him.

Suho turned around after a little while to check up on him, “This is for building stamina. Don’t worry, you’re doing well. Baekhyun couldn’t climb up after the fifth stair and he almost fainted when he tried this for the first time.”

Chanyeol didn’t have the energy to turn around and see Baekhyun’s face. He just heard Baekhyun’s reply –

“Yeah, but my low stamina saved my life once.” Chanyeol frowned. Suho noticed this.

“We’ll tell you once we reach the top floor. Only two more floors to go.”

Chanyeol would pretend that he didn’t curse everything inwardly.

 

The twelfth floor was very different as compared to the first floor. When they’d got out of the stair area, they faced a white empty room save for one white couch and one desk. It seemed like a reception. There was a man sleeping behind the desk.

Suho shook his head, “Careless.”

Baekhyun shrugged, “Let the poor man sleep.”

And they moved on without seeing much of the man. The back wall of the room was all wooden with an almost unnoticeable door, thanks to everything being dark and wooden. Suho walked towards the door and slid an arm around somewhere which Chanyeol didn’t catch and the door swung open. Chanyeol’s jaw dropped.

The whole room was furnished with wood and there was one L-shaped black leather couch and two similar sofas. On one walls, there were many maps and pictures of some weird things and a white board in which there were many lines drawn and stuff written. On another wall there were weapons hanging from the wall – swords, guns, crossbows. Chanyeol’s throat went dry. They were really going to kill him. His eyes went from the walls back to the interior – there were some coffee tables with many thick files and many other weird stuff – it all seemed very business-like and mafia-type and scary and revolutionary.

He turned to Baekhyun and Suho and tried to form coherent words but only managed to say, “Umh…?”

Suho smiled sheepishly at him, while Baekhyun straight on started laughing at him. Mockingly. Chanyeol turned to glare at him but the latter didn’t even see him – choosing to flop down on the leather couch and spread his legs while laughing.

“Stop,” Chanyeol whined, sitting next to Baekhyun and hitting him on the arm. Baekhyun just went on laughing. Idiot.

Suho took the sofa on the other side after shutting the door – a table separated him from those two. His smile disappeared suddenly and he switched back to his serious self. Chanyeol got goosebumps die to the sudden change.

“Park Chanyeol, what I’m about to tell you will definitely change your life,” Suho paused, as if considering whether to speak his next words or not, “And I don’t think it will be a positive change.”

Chanyeol’s goosebumps intensified and he laughed lamely and airily, hoping Baekhyun would laugh at him. He didn’t. Instead, he was staring at Chanyeol with this expression – as if he was sad for him yet with this responsible undertone in them that Chanyeol couldn’t really call his expression ‘pity.’

Suho cleared his throat and the weight of the dark room suddenly seemed to have been put on his shoulders.

“See, you may have noticed humans normally sleeping at midnight sharp,” Chanyeol pretended not to have noticed how Suho used the term ‘human’ for other people, as if they weren’t… “And this is not just a co-incidence. It is actually a program induced by the government.”

“The what?” Chanyeol said, crinkling his eyebrows, “And the fuck why?”

Suho nodded and his next words were slow. The air in the room was thick and only then did Chanyeol notice the soft candle burning at the corner of the room – its fumes filling and suffocating him even more. The air suddenly seemed to have gained more mass. Everything was heavy.

And his heartbeat was fast.

“The government releases this sort of gas which compels humans to sleep at midnight. They do this because they’re responsible for the country and the citizens and this can protect them from their demise or at least make it painless…” Suho trails off; His eyes looking at Baekhyun, “We are actually a government body – the top secret, yes, but we are. That’s why we have such rich supplies and nice accommodation.”

Chanyeol raises his hand as if to stop something; he didn’t know what – the world, Suho, his headache, his heartbeat or the sinking feeling creeping underneath his skin…

“Wait, what are we exactly?” He asked, getting creeped out by the use of the word ‘human,’ in such a third-party way.

Suho pauses; looks nervous before he drops the bomb –

“Humans. Just not normal ones. Humans that are connected to the tree of life; Humans with power.”

“Please say sike.”

“…sike.” Suho said, sighing, “But I just said it cause I’m nice.”

Baekhyun leaned towards the table, “Nup, he thought he was being funny by scaring you.”

“…what?” Chanyeol was scared, confused and lost and these people were weird. In a way, he had no problem believing they weren’t humans, however the implication that he was one of them was definitely troubling.

“See,” Baekhyun said suddenly, slamming his palms onto the mahogany table, making the big books and maps on it shake and rattle, “The thing is we’re humans. But with powers and a secret vision – all right? We can see more than real humans. We can see the tree of life.”

“You mean that diagram where carnivores eat herbivores?” Chanyeol guessed, “All of us can see that.”

Suho looked at him for a few moments before he started laughing, “Gods, I love him.”

Baekhyun just shook his head and turned towards Chanyeol, facing him – Chanyeol wanted to bop his straight, button nose. His lips were pressed in utmost concentration and sincerity. His cheeks beheld themselves in the dark candle glory. And his eyes – his eyes seemed to be the twilight of human existence – somewhere between being the most-alive thing ever and then being the deadest thing ever. The dark eyes bore into Chanyeol’s soul, with so much seriousness, so much pain, so much emotion and the flickers of the candle reflected into those dark, dark eyes, lighting them up only to seem inhumane. And when he spoke, his whole existence was serious, dark, painful and non-describable. In the midst of the moment, Chanyeol felt that _this,_ _exact_ minute was going to impact his life largely.

“The Earth is well and alive,” He started, “Spirits and the roots of this very Earth move in the dark, ready to feast upon its human inhabitants with one aim.”

Chanyeol’s throat was dry; his chest tight, “And – and what would that be?”

Baekhyun’s voice was heavy; almost ancient and his eyes were shining with a dark glint – one that contained pain and the truth, when he said –

_“Revenge.”_

 

The next few moments were silent – Baekhyun was staring at Chanyeol and Chanyeol was staring at Baekhyun. However, they were not looking at each other. Their faces and eyes were merely in contact with each other, however their minds were far away to another realm. Suho coughed and suddenly, both of them slipped back into their bodies.

Chanyeol gulped, “Why revenge?” His voice came out much smaller than intended. Much, much smaller.

Suho answered his question as Baekhyun’s eyes were too busy glaring holes through the table.

“There are people who’ve helped destruct this Earth and defied the very laws of Mother Nature. And you know what they say, right? ‘Nature has its way.’ And that’s what she did – eliminated those who hurt her and brought them home. She liked people coming back home.” Suho said, calmly, yet his words drilled through Chanyeol’s skin. He felt hot.

“Eliminated and home… you mean-” He couldn’t pronounce the next words so Suho finished it for him.

“Killed. Yes,” Suho said, his eyes flicking over to Baekhyun once, “Baekhyun told me that you were attacked by her?”

Chanyeol blinked, searching through his memory when he realized Suho was referring to the accident on the road – the tree coming after him. It was as if it had happened years ago. He felt safe in his house and all the things that happened were a distinct memory.

“Ah, yes, the tree…” His voice was airy and weird and Suho continued.

“Yes, that’s right. You see you were in a danger zone. The area you were in used to be forest and it was cut down by three people that lived in the big farmhouses. Mother Nature couldn’t find them walking around, thanks to the fact that they were asleep in their rooms upstairs and so she targeted you. One of the only people that were awake and walking. Easy target.” Suho explained, using his hands to gesture to a map of the city. And Chanyeol noticed how that area was marked in red. It was danger.

“But why – why am I one of the only people awake?” Chanyeol asked, “Why me?”

Suho was silent for a while before responding, “Nobody really knows why, but it must be related to the fact that you’re one of the elements that carries forward one of the legends in the tree of life.”

Chanyeol’s comprehension skills weren’t bad but this just went over his head. Baekhyun huffed – a movement of life and sat up straight.

“He won’t understand like that, dummy. Let me explain,” He said, turning to Chanyeol but Chanyeol stopped him.

“No, your descriptions are really scary.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “This world is scary. Don’t be a crybaby and listen.”

The whine that Chanyeol let out went unnoticed and Baekhyun said –

“Life is basically like a tree, right? It starts with the roots and branches out, right? I mean, I hope you took your science classes well -”

Chanyeol snorted, “I’m a top achiever.”

Baekhyun looked at him with distaste, “Ew, but yeah, anyway the root is this Earth and the things supporting this Earth are the twelve legends – I don’t know all of them but I’m light and Suho’s water and there are more like wind and teleportation and stuff – and these type of people have a strong bond to Nature and they can withstand human stuff – like the stuff that makes humans sleep at 12, also means man-made medicines won’t work at you but natural wine does the trick – and these twelve legends can see the tree of life, which is currently, thanks to population, pollution and general ignorance of people concerning environmental issues : dying. And we’re trying to make the situation better.”

Baekhyun huffed out a breath after he finished.

“So, did you understand now?” He asked, raising a finger and looking at Chanyeol. Chanyeol shook his head.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and said, “Fuck it,” before flopping back onto the leather couch. The sight made Chanyeol smile – glad to know he was irritating seemingly irritating people.

“I mean I did understand, but there ae still so – fucking – many gaps you know? Like how are we making this better? And what tree of life? Is it real or something else?” He shook his head, “I’m lost.”

Baekhyun stood up suddenly and looked at Suho, “We need to show him. Not soon like you said. Now. The danger is increasing day by day and we can’t take a lot of time. We’ve finally found the last one.”

Suho looked torn and Chanyeol was lost. He was diving continuously into whirlpool after whirlpool and every time he’d think he had found the light, he’d be pulled back into another whirlpool. This process was tiring and emotionally and mentally draining. He might as well see everything he needed to. So, he stood up. His shadow casted across the floor of the room scarily. And with all the talk about the Earth being alive, he wondered if his shadow was alive too. He shivered. Uh Oh, bad thinking there, Park.

Instead he focused on the events at hand, which were just as scary as his shadow.

“I’ll see whatever I need to.” He announced and Baekhyun looked at him before turning to Suho.

“See?” He pointed towards Chanyeol, “He’s ready!”

Suho shook his head, “He’s not ready, Baekhyun. He’s tired.”

Baekhyun deflated and huffed again. He looked lost too. Under the candle light and yellow light in the room, his eye bags were very clear and pure exhaustion on his made Chanyeol sad. A person doesn’t deserve this.

“But,” Suho started, “You’re right. We don’t have time.”

Baekhyun smiled – a small smile but it was genuine and apparently contagious because Chanyeol found himself smiling too.

  


This time too, Suho took the stairs. Baekhyun didn’t. He motioned for Chanyeol and both of them went down through the elevator. Chanyeol couldn’t help but be curious of one thing – a statement that Baekhyun had mentioned back there.

“How did your ‘less stamina’ save you?” He asked, quoting the words, as the lift went down, feeling the tug and the pull in his stomach. It was too hot and they were too close but he tried not to notice their proximity. Not that it affected him in any way.

Baekhyun smirked as he remembered the story, “Let’s just say that on my rookie mission, we were protecting this man whose house had like twenty-one floors and thanks to Nature, the elevators were broken and the whole place had really bad network. So, I was supposed to be in the basement, according to our plan, after landing on the terrace, because I was tired and just sat huffing on the stairs,” He said, pausing for a little while, his eyes staring at the number of the floor they were on as if he wanted this ride to end as fast as possible, “The basement got demolished that night because this big tree grew there and destructed it whole so if I was there, I would not have been here now. So, I thank my low stamina.”

Chanyeol smiled when Baekhyun clasped his hands in a prayer mode, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Baekhyun talked about it so carelessly as if risking his life was an everyday matter now and it probably was (seeing he had almost died twice since Chanyeol had seen him. And one time was directly because of Chanyeol.). Another thing that bothered him was the realization that the life _he_ was going to live was going to be like this probably – with _this_ amount of danger. It wasn’t really inviting.

The elevators binged open revealing the ground floor – the familiar living room. Baekhyun stepped out and said –

“We have to go to the basement. We’ll need to take the stairs.” He said, before walking down the stairs; Chanyeol in tow. He could hear the footsteps of Suho a floor above him. It was somehow nerve-wracking. The constant steps of foot against the stairs was as loud as his heart which had note stopped pounding ever since he almost crashed into Baekhyun. Literally.

As they went down the stairs, the artificial lights lowered and at one point there was no light at all before this orbs of light of different colors appeared around him. He realized it was Baekhyun’s doing.

“Light…” He murmured, “Cool.”

He could feel Baekhyun’s smirk.

“I’m always the MVP in battles in the dark or the underground and since Mother Nature hates our electricity so much and loves to mess up the switches, my light is useful.” They went down the third flight of stairs and immediately Chanyeol noticed the light that was coming from below. It wasn’t Baekhyun’s light. It wasn’t like his at all. It was ancient, different and it changed color – more like aurora than light. The colors changed from white to yellow to blue to green but it seemed more dull and comforting unlike Baekhyun’s high quality orbs. It seemed… homey. And when it came in contact with him, Chanyeol immediately felt the surge of nature and its glory – the sound of birds, waterfalls, river, leaves and air radiated in his ears, his lungs were filled with the smell of warm and moist soil and forests and salt from the sea. Breathing was easy. The air and the light seemed to pass through him cleansing his soul and removing any human dirt on him. It eased his mind into a gentle sleep and comforted his human desires and made him forget about his hunger and his tiredness and his panic. The whiff of nature and the light were soft. They were his home.

He didn’t even realize but he forgot more about his body and his eyes fluttered shut – he could see a green landscape spreading out below him, rivers raced up valleys, the sky shone a bright blue, there were so many tall trees that provided him shade, the sun was delicious and there were many animals around him. The air was fresh and he felt so good, so alive, and so nice. He had no worries about his hunger or about any of those insignificant humane problems. They didn’t matter anyway, when he was so connected to the Earth.

He was at home.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Baekhyun put his hand on his arm; his grip was tight and unrelenting “Park Chanyeol, _don’t_ be lured by her. _Don’t_ give in. She’s merciless; she just wants her creatures to return back home and be turned into dirt. _Chanyeol. Snap. Out. Of. It.”_

Chanyeol’s eyes flew open.

He was lying on the stairs, his arm gripped by Baekhyun, who was looking at him intently. Suho also gazed down at him worriedly. In the few moments that followed, Chanyeol felt a lot. His soul returned back to his body and the fog in his mind suddenly cleared. The smell, the light, the glimpse – he hadn’t even realized that he had fallen, with his eyes shut, very much like a dead person. He shivered and it was then that he realized that his body was pale and hard and his lips were cold. He felt very much dead. And strange.

But Baekhyun’s arm on his kept him centered and the grip was so tight, he felt that he couldn’t slip out again. He shivered again and looking at his hands, he realized they were shaking; from fear or from cold – he didn’t know. He just couldn’t fucking stop shaking because he was sure that he had left his body for some time. He didn’t know how long. God, he had almost died or not? What was wrong with him? Why was his body - ?

A warm hand was pressed tightly onto his chest. He blinked up to see Baekhyun using his other hand to put his palm firmly against his chest. And it was then that he realized that his chest was heaving uncontrollably and his heart-beat must be insane. Heart-beat. He got up immediately; his head swirled from the quick moment but he didn’t care. He grabbed Baekhyun’s hand shifted it right over his heart. He gulped; nervous; scared; and just shocked. And he didn’t know why.

Baekhyun looked at him – there wasn’t confusion in his eyes.

Or probably he did know.

“Don’t worry,” Baekhyun reassured him, “It’s all right. It’s fast but it’s there.”

Chanyeol nodded – his throat had never felt so dry. Suddenly he felt Suho move behind him, since his senses were on fire. He wondered if that’s how a newborn felt after being born and exposed to the world; so fucking sensitive. Suho kneeled around him and handed him a glass of water. Chanyeol frowned. The catch was that it wasn’t a glass of water. It was water shaped like a glass.

Right, Suho controlled water.

So weird…

But he took it anyway and drank it. The ‘glass’ felt cool. He drank the glass.

He felt better. More connected to his body. His human needs returned – he felt hungry, tired and sore and for the first time he was grateful for these. At least, he was there.

He got to stand on his feet. Baekhyun supported him and while Chanyeol would have normally been embarrassed for relying on someone (especially Baekhyun) so much, but at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to care and he also felt a tiny bit grateful. (Okay, a lot grateful)

Chanyeol breathed after he stood up, “That was… intense.” His voice sounded weird to his ears and it was weird because his voice had never sounded weird to his ears. So weird.

Baekhyun nodded, glaring at the bottom where the light was coming from and Chanyeol was shocked by the amount of hatred his eyes held, “That’s how it starts for some people who are innocent. Some of them love that feeling so much, they would gladly be killed,” Chanyeol gave him a doubtful glance – no matter how strong the feeling was, he was more grateful to have returned to his body; Baekhyun just shook his head, “No, I’m saying the truth. You had just entered that state, Park. It gets worse… much… _much worse_ ,” His voice was so bitter, so emotional, and had so much depth, and then, when he looked at Chanyeol, his eyes were dark; so hurt that they were emotionless, “Believe me, I know.”

Chanyeol couldn’t argue.

Suho cleared his throat behind them and Chanyeol was thankful because Baekhyun had struck him as someone who was chill, cool, popular and meme-worthy material. This side of Baekhyun however, seemed different yet truer and Chanyeol felt as if he had peeked into the darkest secret of someone. Chanyeol didn’t think it was possible for someone to have so much venom in their words but Baekhyun did. He wondered what nature did to him but he didn’t really want to find out. The thing with Baekhyun wasn’t his matter anyway. And some things were too scary to know…

“So, Chanyeol,” Suho said, “Like, um, Baekhyun here said, try to be careful,” His eyes turned serious. This was no joke, “This was only her light – when you get closer to her you’ll feel like that again. So hold on to us tight. Physical touch helps. And don’t worry, after your first meeting now, she won’t bother you that much.”

Chanyeol nodded but then frowned, “So we’re… meeting Mother Nature?”

Suho thought about it for a while and then he shrugged, “I guess you can say that. Mother Nature is not a human form you know. What we’re seeing now is the Tree of Life.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened, “It’s in your basement!?”

Suho shook his head, “No, no. It’s everywhere. Once you train for a bit, you can see her – it’s a layering over the earth you know, like…yeah, cell membrane!” Suho said brightly as he found a comparison.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Nerd.”

Suho gave him a look, “Why do you act as if you aren’t a nerd?” Suho turned back to Baekhyun, ignoring Baekhyun’s ‘Because I’m also cool!’ “So, yeah, this thing is there you know? But humans can’t see it but we can whenever it’s messing up or when we want to. Here, you can see it the strongest though, since this place is really deep down.”

Well, that made a little sense. Without any words, Chanyeol and the others decided to finally go and see for themselves the Tree of Life. Chanyeol made sure to hold on tight onto Suho and Baekhyun. It was embarrassing but at least, he wouldn’t die.

_Well, Tree of life, here I come._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment.
> 
> Twitter - iexoeris


	2. Chapter 2

# Chapter 2

 

Chanyeol’s vision widened out slowly. And there were a numerous things that struck his mind. First, the room was dark, like a hollow wooden cave. Second, the room was big, _very big_. Chanyeol couldn’t see the roof. It was like a pit fall wooden cave with extra serves of mud. Third, he saw the tree.

He was shocked, spooked, and _bewildered._

The tree, with its thick trunk; thicker than three-four trucks extended upwards, its thick branches hanging out around it. And every branch had things hung to it – dreamcatchers, windpipes and other beautiful light things. The whole room was magic. The tree seemed to have so much energy – it faded in and out. It was marked by blue, green, white, yellow. Shoots of these colors raced around the room like butterflies. And as these shoots of light spread farther they turned into pixies, fairies, birds and butterflies and beetles and so many other things Chanyeol couldn’t identify. There was a water body on some side of the tree – the blue was sparkling into the night. It was so healthy and full of nature. This was a magic getaway.

“Twelve main branches,” Baekhyun said and Chanyeol looked up at the tree again, more carefully and he noticed that there were indeed twelve main branches. All of them were lit and surrounded by an encase of energy – one was blue, one was white, one yellow, one light blue, one green, one was brown and so on  - except for one. This one was dark, its trunk dried, and with seemingly no life. The branch bent downwards, as if it was dying. At this realization, Chanyeol noticed that the whole tree was dying. The bottoms of the tree were dried and bent and only the light powers were keeping it alive.

And then he understood the Tree of Life. It was a magical, symbolic representation of nature’s current state. It wasn’t a real tree – it was the display screen of nature. He understood now. It was something that can only be seen, not explained.

Suho noticed his expression, “So you understand now, right?”

Chanyeol nodded.

And then Suho pointed towards the dying branch, “Time to see if you’ve superpowers like Baek and me or if you’re gonna be a worker in the agency.”

  


Chanyeol accidentally set the fucking tree on fire.

It wasn’t his fault. He had climbed up to the dying branch easily (there were levels made at the back of the cave) and he had touched the tip of the dying branch and suddenly, the tip started burning, sending waves of fire flying throughout the tree. Chanyeol had yelped as the fire had passed through him. And he had yelped once more when he realized the fire didn’t burn him. The same can’t be said for Baekhyun. A tiny spark landed on his arm and he started jumping around like a hyperactive puppy (or an even more hyperactive than usual puppy).

Soon the whole fucking tree was on fire and people were screaming. The shoots of light turned to shoot of fire and while Suho simply jumped in the pool or water – Baekhyun who was on the other side could do nothing but dodge stuff and jump around. The sight was hilarious and it made Chanyeol laugh heartily. Chanyeol also realized that he was glowing red and orange.

Fuck, was he on fire too?

He would never know. He climbed down the tree and stepped away from it and soon the fire tree died down and only the branch remained fiery. The rest of the powers came to surround the tree – they were dim as compared to the blazing fire. The tree uplifted and it seemed it wasn’t dying. The trunk looked anew and the branches were straight and high and the place looked more alive than ever.

Suho got out of the pool (the sight was funny for some reason). He walked towards Chanyeol and knelt on one leg which was so awkward and Baekhyun did the same which was even stranger for Chanyeol. And all the other fairies and pixies and even mermaids in the pool and the small plants surrounding them knelt and Suho said –

“All hail! The Prince of Fire has been chosen. All hail Park Chanyeol!”

The sentence was echoed twelve times and Chanyeol felt so awkward and good at the same time. He couldn’t stop smiling as embers of fire lay on his feet and some sparks flew around him.

He could control fire.

  


Chanyeol yawned as the teacher blabbered on about The Pascal Triangle. He wasn’t sure if people saving nature by nurturing the tree of life and protecting people was realer or a boring mathematics class by a teacher who looked like he was De Mere during Pascal’s time. That’s how old his teacher looked.

Chanyeol yawned again, turning his head towards the window and immediately, his state of sleepiness broke as he saw what – or who – was outside: Byun Baekhyun was standing near the school gates, wearing a black leather jacket and tight jeans, leaning against the wall like he owned it, staring right at Chanyeol. His eyes widened and he looked at Baekhyun weirdly, who just winked and motioned to Chanyeol’s textbook – a silent message which said ‘Go, study.’

Chanyeol couldn’t study and he was glad when the school bell rang five minutes later. He slipped on the bag on his shoulder and with hurried steps, reached the school gate. Baekhyun was standing there, looking smug and so out of place from tired and done teenagers – all said teenagers admiring Baekhyun.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Chanyeol asked.

“Picking people up, specifically you. I’m taking you home, you’re getting changed and you’re coming with me for your practice at the base,” Baekhyun said, motioning to his black SUV, which looked good as new outside the gates.

Chanyeol frowned, “Practice?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Yeah, of course, you don’t expect yourself to fight nature’s uglies without any practice, do you?”

Chanyeol shook his head and there was an awkward pause before Chanyeol asked, “Who’re you picking up? Except for me?”

Baekhyun didn’t answer. Instead his eyes focused on someone behind Chanyeol, who turned around to look at three figures approaching them. His eyes widened as he realized who he was looking at – Oh Sehun, the popular model guy and dance guy of the school along with his best friend, Kim Jongin who was the dance god of the school and another guy, Do Kyungsoo. Chanyeol knew his name. They had interacted once in music club. Chanyeol didn’t _know_ them though. Except for Kyungsoo, the others were too popular to interact with someone like Chanyeol. Even though Sehun and Jongin were juniors, their popularity intimidated seniors like him.

“Wait are you, by any chance, picking them up?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun, turning around quickly, with bewildered eyes.

The answer he received was in the form of Sehun shouting, “Yo! Baekhyun hyung. My favorite hyung in the whole world!”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Just get in the car, brat.”

The trio reached them and Chanyeol softly took a step back to accommodate enough group space for all of them. Kyungsoo noticed this and smiled politely at him.

“Park Chanyeol. You’re the new recruit, right?” Chanyeol said something along the lines of ‘uh, yeah, me.’ And suddenly Sehun was getting too close to him.

“Wow, isn’t it a co-incidence that all school-goers go to the same school and all university goers to the same university?” Sehun said and that sentence made Chanyeol realize something.

With a surprised expression, he turned towards Baekhyun, “Wait, you don’t go to school? I thought you were a junior!”

Jongin covered his face with his sleeve as he started laughing.

Baekhyun scowled at him, “For your kind information, I graduated school last year. As the valedictorian.”

“Wait, so you’re in uni!?” Chanyeol couldn’t believe this. He was sure Baekhyun was way younger than he was. Chanyeol also had the brief thought that Baekhyun was an angst pre-teen. Saying Baekhyun was not in 8th grade or 9th was hard to believe. Saying he was university was… just against the nature. And for the trouble that he gave Chanyeol last night while teasing him about being a ‘nerd’… Baekhyun might’ve forgotten to mention that he was a _valedictorian_.

Jongin’s laugh escaped freely now.

Kyungsoo snorted at this, “He’ll join university this year. He sat out last year to fight nature.”

Baekhyun. And nature. _Enemies._ “Whoa. That’s some… dedication.”

Sehun piped in, “Suho did the same. Suho – you’ve met him, right? He was also the valedictorian in his school and he sat out too for fighting.”

“Whoa,” Chanyeol exclaimed. Again. He really didn’t know what else to say.

Baekhyun huffed suddenly, “Now, hurry up kids. Get in the car. We’re stopping at Chanyeol’s house and after he packs up his stuff, we can go to the base.”

  


The car ride wasn’t all that bad. It was… highly interesting. For Chanyeol, at least.

See, Chanyeol, he tried not to feel bothered by high-school cliques and stuff like popularity. However, when everybody else around you was so focused and dead-set on maintaining some stupid traditions, sometimes you unconsciously followed them. And that was the reason why Chanyeol was not at all comfortable with Sehun and Jongin. At first, he felt like saying some cool stuff which he realized was stupid. He wasn’t going to try and impress people. Goddammit, that wasn’t him.

But he couldn’t help but feel… small. In front of all of them, even though, he was the tallest.

So while Sehun and Jongin recounted their stories of school and Kyungsoo commented in between, Chanyeol, who was sitting shot-gun, remained completely silent, occasionally smiling at some things. He didn’t need a mirror to know that the smile was pained.

When they were nearing his house and the flow of conversation was slow, Chanyeol asked -

“So, I’ll have to train and stuff and fight and protect and stuff, right?” He said, nonchalantly even though he didn’t feel that way.

Sehun nodded from the back, “Yep.” Chanyeol felt weird, considering the question was meant for Baekhyun but he let it be.

“So, like, what about my parents and studies and stuff…?” He asked, slowly. He was afraid that he’ll get an answer like ‘You’ll have to sacrifice everything and get to fighting, because you’re the chosen one and your education doesn’t matter.’

Baekhyun proved him wrong.

“Hmm, about that, see I hope you won’t feel that sad about us snatching a few hours off your family time – we’ll tell them you joined a club or something and we always have Luhan; his power is telekinesis but he can shift around reality a bit and Tao can control time, so we can still have you catch up on some important things you might have missed plus the government is always there to cover up when we mess up.”

Chanyeol blinked, “Okay,”

Baekhyun barked out a laugh, “You don’t really have anything to say, do you?”

“I said, ‘okay,’” Baekhyun smiled bashfully and continued driving. And as Jongin – they called him Kai here – remembered another story, the car was gradually filled with conversation once again – conversation that didn’t include Chanyeol.

  


“All of you stay in the car, all right?” Baekhyun commanded as he jumped off the car. Chanyeol followed him, sliding out from his seat gracefully, thanks to his long legs. He rounded the car and got his bag out; he figured that he’ll need it.

Baekhyun walked up to his door and rang the doorbell and Chanyeol was momentarily afraid of what his parents might think when they see that huge SUV and Baekhyun’s tight, black, leather clothes. He was again, proved wrong when his mom opened the door, her eyes widening only momentarily in shock as she scanned Baekhyun but then, a beautiful smile replaced her shock , “Oh, they said you’d come, honey. Come in quick!” And then, she went in, humming a song.

Baekhyun turned towards Chanyeol and upon inspection of his expression, he laughed heartily; his voice loud and full and slipping out so easily.

“Gods, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Baekhyun commented.

“My mother being nice is a ghostly matter, Byun. Don’t laugh, she’s possessed,” Chanyeol looked back at the car, “Any of your guys are exorcists? Because we are in dire need of one.”

“Oh shut up, Junmyeon might have just called the government and the officials probably took it from there,” He smiled cheekily before his smile died down a bit, “And hey, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol turned towards him, “Yes?”

“You don’t need to be scared of the others. I know they might seem a lot but we’re all in this together,” His voice was soft and comforting; like pink blankets and marshmallows; and it wasn’t sympathizing; it was just understanding and Chanyeol respected that but he couldn’t help the blush that spread down his face after he realized that Baekhyun _had_ noticed just how uncomfortable he was around the others.

Thankfully, he was saved from replying by his mother calling for him, “Chanyeol-ah, hurry up!”

He gave Baekhyun a helpless shrug before stepping inside.

  


Chanyeol had never liked the interior of his house. It was too homey and yellow and messy for him. He personally preferred clean-cut modern and sleek designs with matte colors or monochromatic schemes whereas his house was painted completely in a warm yellow and soft cream. The furniture of the house was wooden. And every nook was filled with embarrassing family photos. The phones were always ringing – his elder sister, Yoora calling up, plus many people visiting his family – currently, his mom’s employees were occupying the white sofas. They smiled up at him and then continued their chatter.

His house was always so loud and it seemed so hazy.

It was infuriating.

“Sorry for the general chaos,” He said, turning around to face Baekhyun but he was surprised as he saw how Baekhyun’s eyes were filled with wonder; child-like wonder as he took in every detail of the house; there was a soft smile plastered on his face.

“You house is so… homey,” Baekhyun exclaimed, “It’s…nice.” Chanyeol didn’t think the same but honestly, he couldn’t say anything to that expression Baekhyun had – as if he had found his safe haven, so he just shrugged and lead Baekhyun to the dining room. The smell of bread, pizza and pie was a given in his house. Today, it was accompanied by the refreshing smell of chocolate.

He walked faster, and upon reaching the dining room, he found both of his parents sitting on the dining table, with their arms crossed. They didn’t look angry or upset. They were just… sitting there.

Baekhyun smiled disarmingly at them before swooping in and pulling a wooden chair back to take a seat, “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Park, I’m Byun Baekhyun.” He offered both of them his hand. Chanyeol, meanwhile, took a seat, next to Baekhyun.

Chanyeol’s dad’s eyes flickered in recognition at the name, “You’re the one that would take charge for his Youth Program, right?”

Baekhyun continued smiling while Chanyeol felt confused. _Youth Program?_

“Yes, that’s right. We chose Chanyeol because of his exceptional physical and academic performance. You know how only a few handfuls of citizens are chosen, right? To train right under the government and gain a chance to become a better person and leader? Your son is one of the handful,” Baekhyun said, not stuttering a bit. And Chanyeol was almost convinced that he was chosen for a Youth Program.

Almost.

“So,” His mother started, looking at his father hesitantly, “Would we have to do anything – like sign or pay or something?”

“Oh, you’ll have to pay,” Baekhyun said, leaning back, a little smile on his face, “With your son’s time. He might have to partake in some sleepovers with us, plus he’ll have to spend some afternoons and evenings with us, too. That’s all really.”

His mother smiled; relieved, “Well, then, I don’t mind really. I’m quite happy actually.” His father nodded.

“So, he’ll spend the weekend with us. Is that okay?” Baekhyun said, looking across his parents. Both of them nodded and Baekhyun smiled, “Well, that’s all. We’ll go and get his stuff, then. Thank you!”

“Wait!” His mother stopped them. She stepped back to the kitchen counter and picked up a package, “Here, I made some chocolate pie, go and share this with the others.”

Baekhyun smiled and Chanyeol almost gasped, because this smile wasn’t the same professional, confident and perhaps fake smile he’d been handing around to his parents. This was a sweet, bright and real smile. His eyes turned into crescents as his lips tugged up and his cheeks brightened. He looked… cute.

EW, Chanyeol did _not_ just have that thought.

“Thank you, Mrs. Park!” Baekhyun exclaimed, bowing down a bit, taking the package from Chanyeol’s mother with his thin, pretty hands gracefully, and saying, “We’ll make sure to eat good.”

And Chanyeol’s mother, who’d always been really loving and touchy, caressed Baekhyun’s cheek with her hand, “Aw, so cute and adorable.”

“Mom!” Chanyeol said, blushing profusely just at the same time Baekhyun said, “Thank you.” Baekhyun was a little pink too, however he seemed sort of out of it. He was at a loss of words, which was amusing because Baekhyun wasn’t ever out of words.

Even when they made their way out of the dining room, Baekhyun kept quiet. One of his hands touched his cheek, where Chanyeol’s mother had previously touched him. He looked so lost and so small. Chanyeol shook his head. His mother had broken Byun Baekhyun.

“Hey, I’m sorry, my mother can be too much,” He said, before looking around the house, “This house too, it’s too homey.”

Baekhyun shook his head, “No, no. Your mother is… nice. She’s kind. And this house,” He looked around for a little while before turning to look at Chanyeol; his brown eyes sincere and unclouded, “I love it.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows rose. He was shocked at the utter truthfulness and firmness in Baekhyun’s words. And for the first time, he was curious about Baekhyun. He wondered where he lived, how his parents were, if they weren’t home that much – because, Baekhyun literally dropped out of college - and wondered how his house looked. He was curious but somehow, looking at Baekhyun’s soft expression, he felt that he needed to wait for a little while before he could ask him.

So, he just walked upstairs, climbing the stairs towards his room. Baekhyun wordlessly followed him. His room was way cleaner than the rest of his house. His bed was made up with a simple white sheet and a black blanket. Everything in his room was white and black and there weren’t any pictures there.

“Wow,” Baekhyun said, flopping onto the bed and bouncing on it slightly, “Your room is even more boring than you.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, flopping next to him. He was very aware that they were two people in a room, on a bed, together. But he was too tired to care. School was a tiring affair; more mentally than physically tiring. And he yearned for the feel of his soft, cool pillow against his aching head. And when his head hit the pillow, he felt he was in heaven. His body sank in the bed and some of the tension and tiredness from his skin seeped out. He felt very relaxed and at ease. However, Byun Baekhyun – that idiot -couldn’t let him live.

So, when Chanyeol felt some sort of heat over him, he naturally opened his eyes to inspect. And the sight that greeted him beheld Byun Baekhyun hovering above _him_. His elbows were placed beside Chanyeol’s chest and his face was inches apart. Chanyeol couldn’t help but look up – and he could see the freckles in those eyes; freckles of yellow and white in the dark brown. He could see the mole above Baekhyun’s lips. Chanyeol’s eyes travelled a little lower and Chanyeol felt his eyes fluttering close and Baekhyun was so close and his heat was so comforting; he smelt of strawberries and leather…and they were so close…he could feel him now…almost there –

Chanyeol’s eyes flew open in realization and he all but _pushed_ Baekhyun off him, resulting in Baekhyun falling on the floor on his butt.

“Ouch!” He exclaimed loudly, wincing in pain and looking like a damsel in distress but Chanyeol was having _none_ of that.

“What the _fuck_ were you doing?” He demanded, sitting up and looking down at Baekhyun, who looked up at him with a defined _pout_. As if things couldn’t get any stranger…

“I was just messing around; I didn’t expect you to wake up!” Baekhyun said, trying to get up but slipping and landing on his butt over again, _“Ow!”_ He exclaimed, helplessly.

Chanyeol shook his head and gave him a hand, “You’re an idiot. A _big, fucking_ idiot.”

Baekhyun just took his hand and got up, looking at him guiltily, “I’ve been told.”

“It obviously didn’t register in your mind, then.”

“It did!” He lashed out and then retreated his form, looking down at his feet, “I just, never did anything about that.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and huffed, turning around to grab his bag and emptying it on his desk.

“Besides, I said sorry!” Baekhyun’s shrill voice shouted from behind. Chanyeol turned around, glaring at him, “No, you didn’t.”

“Well, then-” Baekhyun took a deep breath, his hand on his chest, “I’m sorry!”

Chanyeol tried hard not to laugh. It was so hard because Baekhyun looked like a desperate puppy even though he was wearing black leather. His eyes were droopy and his lips formed a defined downturned pink little pout. Chanyeol’s mother was right. Maybe, he was a little adorable – a little, but only at that moment. Otherwise he was an idiotic brat.

The sound of a horn pierced through the air interrupting their moment and Chanyeol looked down from his window to see Sehun poking his head out from the car.

“Yah, you guys hurry up! We’re getting bored, hot and hungry!”

Baekhyun was next to him in an instant; staring down the window at Sehun. Chanyeol slanted his eyes towards Baekhyun and observed his stance – shoulder taut, jaw firm, and eyes dark and serious. The pouting boy that had been on the floor seconds ago was gone. This was the Baekhyun he knew. But the pouting, puppy guy that he saw – it was Baekhyun too, right?

Said boy turned to him; eyes emotionless filled with his dark sarcasm, “Chanyeol, hurry up and pack. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

Chanyeol frowned as Baekhyun turned away from him and grabbed Chanyeol’s bag without waiting for an answer. Chanyeol answered anyway, an uncertain, “Okay…?”

He got no reply back so he just got to packing, casting some looks at Baekhyun in between. It was just… weird. All of it. It was weird how he was strangely comfortable with Baekhyun after knowing him for one day. Just _one_ day. It was weird how Baekhyun was just so strange and weird and apparently had split personalities. It was weird how the earth was alive and it was weird how he could control fire and it was weird that the world was weird and it was weird that things that _should_ have had been normal were weird.

_It was all just weird._

Chanyeol’s frown didn’t ease; it just got more defined. He didn’t know it but Baekhyun was looking at him intensely. And Chanyeol didn’t need to know that thoughts along this same pattern were occupying Baekhyun’s head.

And as, both of their eyes accidentally met each other, with mirroring confusion, both had the same thought –

‘Life is just weird.’

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward Silence...

# Chapter 3

 

Chanyeol had seen the ‘Base’ once; just the previous night. However, he had clearly missed out on the large room on the ground floor which he figured was the Training Room. It was light colored with wooden furnishing and not unlike the room he had seen on twelfth floor. It had a map of the whole place that he was itching to see and many books and guides on two huge shelves on one corner. The room had two huge windows, providing a look of the wild beneath. Chanyeol figured that the building was quite high because even from the ground floor, the wild appeared to be far. Looking back around the room which smelt of old books and leather, he noticed some archery stuff and swords and monitors which showed different rooms.

“There are many training rooms – one on each floor.” Baekhyun explained, standing next to Chanyeol; his heat near Chanyeol.

“So, the twelfth floor is the highest level?” Chanyeol titled his head to the side before his eyes sparked, “Wait! Twelve branches, twelve floors… twelve levels?”

Before Baekhyun could answer, Sehun who was leaning against the wall, eating the pie with his hands, looking too much out of a fashion magazine said, “You already showed him the Tree?”

Baekhyun shrugged, “The faster, the better.”

Sehun still looked sort of incredulous, “You showed me after two months.”

Baekhyun set his jaw, “Park here had already run into… uh, nature. Besides, I’m impatient.” He shrugged him, “So anyway, Park – the highest level isn’t twelfth, it’s actually the basement,” He pointed downwards, “You saw it already. The Level is cleared after you’ve almost died-” Chanyeol choked on his spit, “And managed to spend quite a lot of time in that room. Locked. Alone. With nobody and nothing. No food and no water.”

Sehun shrugged, “Needless to say, I haven’t completed it yet.”

Baekhyun sighed as he shook his head sadly, “Sehun’s hardly completed Level 8 and he’s been here for long,” He emphasized ‘for long.’ Sehun just poked a tongue at him and continued to bite a rather large chunk off the pie threateningly.

“What about you?” Chanyeol asked, looking at Baekhyun curiously, “Which level are you on?”

Sehun suddenly let go of his resting spot on the door and walked towards Chanyeol, “Oh, you don’t know, Baekhyun-hyung was the first one to complete all the levels. He’d even repeated them many times, that’s why he’s the most trusted one around newbies.”

Chanyeol turned towards Baekhyun, his jaw hanging in awe, “Wow…”

He wasn’t sure but Baekhyun seemed to have a pink tint on his face and his eyes avoided Chanyeol’s; choosing to glare hard at the carpet instead, “It’s not that hard…”

Sehun snorted, “Only Suho and Baekhyun have completed all the levels. And most of us haven’t even crossed the tenth level,” He turned around, back to his on-door resting spot, “That’s all I have to state.” He lifted his hands up dramatically and slid out of the room, leaving Chanyeol and Baekhyun alone. They were accompanied by the heavy silence of awkwardness.

“So… this is the first level?” Chanyeol asked, looking around.

Baekhyun shook his head; finally lifting his head and his eyes were dark, emotionless, with that sort of twisted look in them that made him seem much more distant than he was. He looked like that kind of person- whom everybody can talk to, but nobody knew. He was so close… yet, so distant.

“This isn’t the first level,” Baekhyun said, “We call it the… zero level. It is more of a helpline of sorts. If you have any doubts or would like some extra knowledge about something, you can come here. It’s basically meant for discussions and some sort of peace, so that all of this doesn’t seem like it’s a big fucking tragedy.”

“But it is?” Chanyeol asked; He didn’t know why but that question was deeper than he meant it to be. It was obvious in the way Baekhyun’s eyes flickered; moist and sad and vulnerable; before they were back to… Baekhyun.

“It might be… for some.” Chanyeol nodded. And then, nobody said anything. And nobody looked at each other. And nobody moved except the wind that danced its heart out in the silence – in that silence where one was calmly confused and the other was mourning.

And then that moment passed, like many other moments; discarded or remembered if it was worth. Time carried on. It was rude like that.

Baekhyun looked up; smiled gratefully. He was thankful. Chanyeol didn’t know why but he knew that some things couldn’t be understood and that some actions had either no meaning or a very deep meaning; people shouldn’t ponder so much about the cause of an action. They should just reciprocate it so Chanyeol offered him a smile back.

And then they were back to usual.

“So, Park, we’re going to begin from the first level, of course,” Baekhyun walked towards the huge windows that showcased the wild outside, “That is where we have the first level.”

Chanyeol frowned, “Outside?”

Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah. This level is known as ‘Basic Instinct’ so I can’t really tell you a lot about it. There will be a goal and you’ll have to get it somehow, with your basic instincts in a limited time,” Baekhyun pointed towards the spread of the green, “And that’s the area you’ll be in.”

Chanyeol gulped. He didn’t have a good feeling about this, “What would the goal be?”

Baekhyun shrugged, “It could be anything. Treasure Hunt, Survival, Hunting…anything.”

Chanyeol looked down below. The green of the woods suddenly did not seem natural, inviting, peaceful or, in any sense, nice. The green had taken on a darker shade for him and Chanyeol off-handedly wondered why he was even entertaining all of this and why was it so easy for him to believe all of this. It might have been the grand decorum of the building. Or the fact that he was almost killed by a fucking tree and saved by a boy with light.

He sighed,

“What if I die?” Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun frowned.

“You won’t. Generally, people don’t. And if none of us have died yet, I don’t see why you’d be the first.” He said, walking away from the window and Chanyeol awkwardly followed him, not really knowing where to go.

“Oh, you don’t know me. I am trouble,” He said, recounting all of his failed adventures in the past, “If anyone was to break tradition, it would be me.”

Baekhyun’s lips tugged upwards at that, “Well, you’re not wrong,” He paused for a while, as if considering, “But you don’t need to worry. I’ll be there; looking out for you so if something goes _really_ wrong, I’ll protect you.” His voice was soft, calm and sincere. And Chanyeol was relieved by this – because apparently, Baekhyun was this whole mastermind here or something and Chanyeol felt safe. Comfortable.

He would be okay.

“But you don’t need to worry about that until later. First, we eat,” Baekhyun marched out and Chanyeol could only smile, because he was hungry –

“As per tradition.”

“As per tradition.” Baekhyun agreed.

  


The cafeteria was on the third floor; Baekhyun said it really didn’t matter where people ate, as long as it wasn’t in training rooms and that the cafeteria was only a place to serve the food. And the cafeteria wasn’t like school cafeterias with plastic chairs and cheap quality material. It had two strips of marble dining tables along with some soft couches and sofas thrown in the center with some bean bags and a central round, wooden table. One wall of the room was completely wooden and was connected to the kitchen. This wooden area had a marble counter, with glass covering attached to it, with huge food containers containing warm food, which smelt amazing. The smell of coffee and cheese was really strong, giving it some sort of heavy feeling. Chanyeol could also smell mint and some other spices. The theme of the place was brown and classy and it was really aesthetic; top notch instar feed material.

Chanyeol was impressed.

“It’s really… grand.” He managed to say to Baekhyun, who looked at him expectantly.

Baekhyun gave him a small smile – it was a proud one, “Well, the government needs us to save their people, so they need to give us something back, right? And what else could teenagers want?”

“If not luxury,” Chanyeol nodded, walking towards the couch thing. There were some people sitting on the couches. He immediately recognized Sehun, Jongin and Kyungsoo. Besides them, there was a guy with smooth black hair and pretty eyes. He was sitting next to a guy with cat-eyes, who was talking animatedly with the pretty-eyed guy.

Baekhyun introduced him to them and Chanyeol learned that the pretty eyed guy was named Luhan –

“Wait, Telekinesis? That’s so cool! You can do almost anything you want.”

Luhan smiled, “That’s true. I can annoy people – look at D.O. alright? Oh, you know him as Kyungsoo, right? Do Kyungsoo. D.O. – same thing. Look at him…he’s flying!”

Luhan ended up with an aching back thanks to an expertly thrown punch.

The next guy was Minseok – they called him Xiumin.

“So, I can freeze things…” He pondered for a while before adding, “And people.”

Chanyeol couldn’t help the chill that went through his body and he politely declined being the object of any demonstration.

Everybody was also really surprised and happy that he controlled fire.

“We’re all finally together,” Jongin- Kai started, “I wonder what Lady Down Below has to say.”

Xiumin snickered, “Probably having a tantrum.”

He actively participated in jokes with them and learned about other people too and their levels. Xiumin was level eleven –

“The last level requires almost dying at the hands of some roots, that’s scary stuff you know?”

While Luhan was Level Tenth –

“Eleventh Level is meditation. If you’ve not noticed already, I’m not one to stay calm and focused.” Chanyeol agreed. He had known Luhan for less than an hour but he already knew that he was a restless soul.

Other members like Kris was Level Nine along with D.O., Tao was Level Eight, like Sehun. A member, Jongdae, also known as Chen, was almost Level Eleven while Suho had completed Level Twelve, Kai was in training for Level Ten, Yixing – or Lay, as they called him was Level Eleven.

Baekhyun was the second person to join but the first to complete all the levels and he had even repeated these levels numerous times. He was really great at this and thus, he acted out as a second-leader or the fighting commander.

Chanyeol gave him an awed look, hoping to get him flustered. He failed though, because the way Baekhyun looked him back in the eye was the way a predator looks on towards its prey. Chanyeol shied away – if he hadn’t he would have been privy to Baekhyun’s soft smile which was casted towards him.

“Chanyeol will have to start from Level One, right?” Luhan said, “It will take a lot of time for him to come up to Level Six,” Seeing Chanyeol’s confused expression, he explained, “Level Six is the level at which we’re allowed to go out and gain a fighting experience.”

Chanyeol rounded his lips in an understanding expression. He was sort of relieved. Hopefully, he won’t be against wood anytime soon. But then Baekhyun said –

“Well, Park has already almost died… _earthen,”_ He pronounced the word carefully, looking at Chanyeol from the corner of his eyes, _“_ So, I think he wouldn’t take that long.”

“Oh…interesting.” Minseok said, leaning forward, “Fire is the most… um, explosive though. So, maybe he might finish it all earlier.”

Baekhyun nodded, and Chanyeol noticed how his eyes scanned the people; quick and accurate.

“Where are the others?”

Luhan answered, “The others – they’ve – um,” He looked around the room once, eyes sharp, before leaning in close, “Suho said there was some problem at Mall-Street. There is apparently a contractor who’s involved in building some building on the North-West Forest and our sources reported that there have been tremors at that area since yesterday and that it’s only gaining momentum.”

Sehun’s eyes widened and he turned to Kai, “Mall Street – that’s where our dance studio is.”

“That’s where a lot of expensive apartments are,” Kyungsoo added grimly, “Including my cousin’s, so we’ll have to do something.”

Baekhyun was still for a moment before he asked, “So, did they go to warn the contractor – give him a dream sequence?”                                                              

Xiumin shook his head, “They did actually. Yesterday. But, the project hasn’t been stopped, yet,” He added, “They planned to give him a stronger sequence or cancel the project in the night somehow, but… the tremors are _really_ strong,” He stressed, “He might earthen and a lot of areas might be destructed if we don’t feed the earth and there are even chances of some spirits seeping through.”

Chanyeol frowned and did a ‘stop’ motion, “Wait, I don’t understand.”

“Baekhyun might explain. Later,” Kyungsoo said without looking at him, before continuing, “I don’t think spirits will be there though. If the tremors were _that_ strong, my cousin would have at least been talking about it. But she’s been quiet.”

Chanyeol didn’t say anything but he felt that he was given a very silent and very big ‘you don’t matter, shut up, later’ from Kyungsoo and so, to avoid further embarrassment, he stayed quiet as the conversation progressed, not understanding any word and zoning out. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt and unconsciously pulled down at his ears – as he did when he felt that he had done something wrong. It was a way of self-punishing.

He only zoned back in when he felt pretty hands pulling at his sleeves. He looked up to see Baekhyun, “Come. Come with me.” Chanyeol got up, his back aching a little, thanks to the constant sitting. He followed Baekhyun out of the room and down the stairs, to the room that he called Level Zero. Baekhyun went inside while Chanyeol stood outside, awkwardly. He didn’t know if he should go in or not, and he didn’t want to embarrass himself further. He’s already done that enough.

Baekhyun turned towards the door, and he sighed when he saw Chanyeol standing outside, one hand rubbing his nape and the tugging at his big ears, “Chanyeol,” He called out, “Come in.”

Chanyeol walked in; legs fumbling awkwardly. He mentally berated himself for being so off-balance. His long legs were more harm than good.

Baekhyun followed his moments and when Chanyeol was in front of him, he said, “You should change your clothes to something comfortable, and choose and arrange your room and then we can discuss when you want to attempt the first level.”

Chanyeol looked up, making small eye-contact with Baekhyun and taking in the way how he always looked so dignified, “Umm…now?” He tested and Baekhyun looked at him for a few minutes before sighing loudly, moving his shoulders helplessly and flopping down on the couch -

“Chanyeol, sit.”

Chanyeol sat on the other couch, facing Baekhyun.

“See – Kyungsoo didn’t – we don’t want-” He sighed again, exasperatedly, “Chanyeol, listen” He put his hands on the table, rattling it a bit and leaned forward, all while Chanyeol could think that Baekhyun had called him _Chanyeol_ , not Park, _Chanyeol_ , “You don’t have to be so… hard on yourself. All right? Kyungsoo’s just stressed. He’s close to his cousin; He’s worried. Sehun and Kai and the others aren’t wonders… if they are, then _you_ are too. Don’t think lowly of yourself. I mean, you’ve been here for _a_ day,” He raised one finger, “Just _one_ day and you’ve already seen the Tree of Life – everybody else took, like _six months_  for that, and you’ve almost died once and _survived_ – and people haven’t done that yet.”

He paused. His breathing was ragged.   

“Just don’t feel that… you’re any less than them. Don’t feel forced to do something. Okay?” His eyes were soft, voice concerned.

Chanyeol didn’t have anything to say. He hadn’t ever received a pep talk like this – he’s never been told that he mattered like this; he’s never been told to think highly of himself; he’s never received such a boost to his self-esteem.

So he answered, “Okay.” His voice was low and even though, there were many emotions in his heart and mind, he felt awed. He understood why Baekhyun was so honored here. It wasn’t because he had crossed the levels many times. It was also because Baekhyun knew exactly what he, Chanyeol, needed, and he had known Chanyeol for _one day_.

“You’re pretty good at reading people,” Chanyeol said, off-handedly but the way Baekhyun’s eyes glinted was anything but casual –

“Maybe I am, _Park_ ,” Chanyeol shivered at the name, “But I believe you’re better than me. You’re really… _different_. You just don’t recognize your talents. And that’s because you’ve a low self-esteem. And I don’t mind telling people what they deserve.”

Chanyeol tilted his head, “Are you in a position to do that, though?”

Baekhyun shrugged, “It’s their position to judge whether I am capable of judging them or not and it’s their position to decide which factor they judge me on.”

Chanyeol nodded. Baekhyun was really… practical, in a way. It was… attractive – platonically of course.

“So, tell me Park, do you trust my judgement?”

Chanyeol didn’t even skip a beat, “I do.”

Baekhyun’s lips curled up, “I figured. You seem relaxed after my little honest speech. Now, may I ask – Why?”

“Why do I trust your judgement?” Baekhyun nodded, and Chanyeol sat back, and hummed as he thought _why_ , “Hmm…” He turned his head, looking at Baekhyun, assessing him before he realized, “it’s your face!” He said abruptly and Baekhyun frowned, clearly not accepting that answer.

“I mean I know babies trust attractive people and I’m not that bad but… my face? Seriously?” He said, looking sort of offended.

Chanyeol nodded, “Yes, your emotions are clearly visible on your face. From the way, you glint, to the way your eyes darken and the different types of smile that you have and the way your eyebrows scrunch up or relax… it’s obvious. At least, it is to me.” He added for good measure.

Baekhyun’s expression showed confusion and he was pouting slightly, “I don’t really show my – it’s probably only you.” He stated and sat back and Chanyeol sat back and they both had this eye contact which stated –

_Now, what are we supposed to do with this information?_

Baekhyun cleared his throat – discomfort; so obvious – “So, when do you want to begin the level?”

Chanyeol shrugged “I don’t mind doing it now, honestly. I can’t deal with that mental wait.”

Baekhyun shrugged too, “Suit yourself.”

And then the awkward silence returned…

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment please!!
> 
> Twitter - iexoeris


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Level 1

# Chapter 4

 

“What do I have to do again?” Chanyeol asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time. They were standing out at the edge of the heavy, green woods. The smell of damp wet and wood filled Chanyeol’s nostrils and it reminded him too much of yesterday’s incidence. However, compared to the chilly air of the night, the day was much hotter and stickier and it was making them tired, sweaty and irritated. Such that Baekhyun tipped his head back and let out a loud groan.

“Park. Chanyeol.” He said, looking at Chanyeol carefully, with a painful expression, “See-” He took a long breath, one hand placed firmly upon his chest, “I’m trying to be patient. And I want you to be understanding, okay? Just… just listen and understand for god’s sake! It isn’t that hard!” His voice erupted in the end.

Chanyeol’s eyes immediately fluttered down. He himself didn’t understand why he couldn’t just grasp what Baekhyun was saying – he had said many times ‘trust your instincts, there are no rules’ Chanyeol couldn’t just follow up. He couldn’t just walk in the forest, could he? He just… didn’t understand. Suddenly one of Baekhyun’s arms reached out and dragged his hand away from his ear, where he was tugging them.

“Stop that,” Baekhyun commanded and then he sighed, “I’m sorry. I’m just worried for the others.”

Apparently, the tremors had gotten so bad that the others had to leave, except for Xiumin, who’s guarding the base and Kris (who looked quite scary and pretty at the same time) had returned to accompany him. The others stated that they wouldn’t require Baekhyun’s or Chanyeol’s help and that they could get on with Chanyeol’s training but Baekhyun was still worried. It must be tiring to be so responsible and constantly worried about the welfare of everyone. Chanyeol respected that. There were a lot of qualities in Baekhyun that he respected.

And most of these qualities Chanyeol didn’t possess.

“It’s okay. It’s understandable, besides it is really hot, you know?” Chanyeol said, waving a hand in front of him.

“It’s November. It shouldn’t be this hot. It’s the Earth. She’s keen to check just how much heat can the Prince of Fire tolerate.” The way he said it made it much more scarier, sending goosebumps down Chanyeol’s skin in the hot and sticky air.

“Oh,” He said. Stupidly.

Baekhyun gave him a small smile of encouragement before saying, “I can explain it one last time. Please try to understand,” Chanyeol nodded; set on getting it right this time, “This is a game of instinct, okay? So there aren’t any rules because then you’ll focus on thinking more but we don’t want that. So, no rules. Your mission is to get to the other edge of the forest. This is the East direction – you have to get to West. I don’t know how. You have to do it. The Earth will send weird things – roots, trees, and even things like people – those are tree spirits. Fight them. Burn them. Survive. Get safely across. That’s the only rule.”

There were still many things that weren’t clear but Chanyeol decided to fuck it and just go in and try. So, he did.

“Okay,” He said, and then hesitated a bit before asking, “So I just go in?” He pointed lamely towards the thick expanse of trees. Baekhyun gave him a smile and nodded.

“Okay…” He said, turning around and walking towards the thick trees. He turned back once to see Baekhyun waving at him and smiling encouragingly. He turned around, feeling a blush creep up his skin before he continued walking. And soon, it got darker. The trees surrounded them – swallowed him up and Chanyeol allowed himself to feel scared. But at the same time, he felt braver. The fact that he had stepped in somehow led him to believe that he would step out. He had to, after all. They said he wouldn’t die…

Timbers, branches and sticks of wood poked his body – harsh and pointed. It wasn’t normal poking. The trees legit had it out for him. They stuck into his skin, not sharp enough to make him bleed, but sharp enough to cause him pain. Chanyeol looked up at the sky; red shoots of the exquisite setting sun mixed with the blue sky, creating a beautiful canvass. He figured he had about forty minutes or less before the sun set completely and light disappeared. He wanted to make it on the other side before that happened. The sun at least guided him – it told him which direction he had to go in. So, Chanyeol walked. His steps were lost in the mushy wood and mud. The dry leaves crunching beneath him made an uncomfortably loud sound. The other sounds he could hear was a distant buzzing of insects and the soft swish of the wind.

Chanyeol quickened his pace and he was out of the thick section of trees and into a section where the trees were long, thin and close but left some breathing space. The trees looked scary as he looked up at them, almost as if they were smiling at him with evil intentions. To avoid looking up, Chanyeol looked down. He wished he hadn’t. The land on which he was standing was sinking. His eyes widened. He was pretty sure this land was, like proper land moments ago and now, it was a marsh land. He was sinking faster than the fastest sinking boat and in a quick moment, his calves were in. Chanyeol felt some movement around him but he had no time to spare.

He looked at the long tree and had an idea – it wasn’t a very good one. He opened his belt and made a loop at one end. He was thankful that his sister was so interested in weaving and weird stuff like that because he knew how to make a knot and he knew how to make it _fast._ When the loop was done, he used all the arm strength he could muster and threw on the nearest tree.

_Please, work_

He prayed for the quarter of a second that it took for the loop to successfully trap one of the tall branches of the thin tree. He smirked and pulled it down, aware that his leg had sank up to a little below his knees. It wouldn’t matter if he got out.

Once the tree was almost curved to the ground and he could grab the branch, he stopped pulling and with a quick movement, the tree back in its place with Park Chanyeol perched up on its branch. He jumped down and landed with ease, thanks to his long legs and noticed how the marsh land had turned back into the normal hard earthly ground. He frowned. The Earth was messed up.

He continued walking. It was harder to walk now, since the mud waited him down. And his legs felt soaked. It was disgusting and Chanyeol kind of wanted to open his pants. He didn’t because if Earth was watching him, he didn’t want her to see him pant-less even though the Earth would be the most primitive thing ever. Leaves stuck to his foot and Chanyeol had enough of feeling like a forest magnet so he settled on a medium-sized rock and took a sharp dried leaf in his hand and pared off the mud cleanly, gaining a great sense of satisfaction. This was one of the things that needed to be added to a Ten Minutes of Satisfaction video. The way that the mud cleanly settled on the edge of the leaf was…phenomenal. It made him feel light.

Chanyeol was just finishing cleaning off when something caught his eyes – it was a glint. He got up and rushed towards the shining object – or at least, he hoped it was an object. And the sight that beheld him made his gasp out loudly. It was a shiny red sword, with black tendrils of coal running down its length. Chanyeol understood it. He was the fire-controller. It was a sword that resembled the essence of fire. It was his to claim. But there was a problem – the hilt was buried into leaves and normally leaves weren’t a problem but they were when they were a chain link three feet long with tight muddy chains binding them together. And the leaves were whispering. He could hear the shushed whispers. It sounded haunting and he wanted to cry.

But the sun was setting.

Once it darkened, he wouldn’t get out. So he picked up a stone – a big stone and threw it on the cage of the leaves. Then, he heard the whispers: _‘Bad choice, Prince of Fire.’_ It wasn’t in a language he knew. It was shushed whispers and swishy swinging but the translation rang clear in his mind. And suddenly, the thought came into his mind - ‘What comes from the Earth, returns to the Earth.’ It wasn’t anything remarkable – a simple discovery that the Earth is the platform for a loop of infinity. But it meant so much more… because Chanyeol himself might belong form the earth, but he owned himself too. And there was something in him that didn’t belong to the Earth.

A small flame ignited within him.

He could feel it. It started from an ember and grew into something more. It was gaining, getting bigger, feeding from his self-desire, his thoughts, his feelings – it fed on him and grew inside him, warming him up. Chanyeol had never felt so strong; as capable as he did now when the world took on a red tint. He was bigger; bigger than those trees; than those leaves; than those people. He had more power. Power, than ran in his blood, in his veins, filled his pores, blocked his nostrils, encaged his body – he was bigger than his body; his soul barely resided in his body anymore. He was growing more and more and more…

He looked at the world – and he willed to see the Tree of Life and it appeared in front of him; white, black, green, blue and all the colors mixed together. Lightning flashed in the purple background of the barely-there tree as it shifted in and out of his vision and he saw the colors – saw Baekhyun’s white, Suho’s blue, Sehun’s green… saw them but one branch grew faster than the others. The fiery branch gained; it swelled up and fire pulsed up and down its crevices and small sparks erupted form the ends of the branch. It was barely contained and Chanyeol, who hadn’t understood until now, realized –

_He was ready._

Shoots of hot, fiery and red fire blasted out from his palms and hit the army of leaves, head on. The link of the mud immediately broke and the fiery reins wrapped around the circle of the leaves as they simmered and browned and burned. Hot, hot vapor flew and sizzled in the air but Chanyeol wasn’t bothered. Smoke filled his nostrils, but he didn’t care. He breathed in the smoke, let it placate his muscles, and indulged himself, his entire soul, his whole body in it, in the fire.

_And he lived._

As the leaves burned, and caused mayhem, he lived. And all he could see was the goal, in front of his eyes. He strode towards it; his steps tall and proud; his shoulders set. For the first time, his body proportions seemed perfect. Park Chanyeol felt perfect. Appeased. Satisfied. Glorified. His rough palm reached out and grabbed the burning sword that he knew wouldn’t hurt him – couldn’t hurt him and he raised it up and it seemed the trees shied away from it. The Earth was scared.

_He wasn’t._

  


Chanyeol passed through everything else with ease. With the sword in hand, he was somebody else. Park Chanyeol – but more confident, stronger, taller, with a straighter back and he felt more alive. The heat couldn’t stop him – it made him sweat but he only opened his shirt, stripped to his undershirt but he was okay. His sword hissed through the air and he even met with some weird-ass spirits. They were armed, green in color with wooden dresses and sharp roots as their weapons. He cut them. Those that he couldn’t cut, he burned. His movements were fast. He was still clumsy and fell a lot and got scared but he was okay.

His physique allowed him to run, jump and keep up with his mind. He wasn’t perfect at fighting and stuff, per se, but he wasn’t bad and definitely way better than he was the rest of the time. And in the moment when another devil of the earth went down, he felt that he could become someone much more perfect. He could tap into this potential and he could be more confident – he wasn’t supposed to be ‘Sucky ParkCy’ forever when he could be the Prince of Fire.

And with that, right when the sky darkened completely, he stepped out. An ‘Exit’ flag marked the end of this level.

And the spell broke and Chanyeol fell onto the ground, utterly exhausted – physically, mentally and emotionally. The whole day contributed to it – everything since yesterday when he became eighteen. And he just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. He wasn’t one to do that kind of stuff but he just wanted release.

Suddenly, something placed itself on his shoulders. And Chanyeol jumped very high – so fucking high – and turned with his sword in hand, pressing his weight against the mystical object and his sword against its skin. Before he could press the sword down though, it was stopped.

“Chill, it’s me, Park,” Chanyeol stilled at the familiar voice and use of the name ‘Park.’ And as he looked down, he saw himself straddling Baekhyun with one of Chanyeol’s hands holding one of Baekhyun’s pretty, soft, baby hands up while his other hand pressed his sword against his exposed neck. However, Baekhyun’s other hand held the sword away from himself.

“Nice instincts,” Baekhyun commented and Chanyeol shook his head.

“You’re faster.” He admitted.

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and with his face so close to him, under the moonlight, Chanyeol could see the exhaustion in his eyes, the fading scars on his face and one fresh cut on the side of his cheek. He could also feel the warmth and the heat that Baekhyun radiated. They were too close. But Chanyeol didn’t want to move. He wondered if Baekhyun slept the past night after dropping Chanyeol home.

“How?” Baekhyun asked. He was too close; his eyes looking into Chanyeol’s and suddenly the taller was brought back to reality.

He got up, hovering above Baekhyun. He released Baekhyun’s hand and quickly removed his sword, “Well, you found me, held my shoulder, I flipped you but your senses are so sharpened that you freed your other hand quickly and defended yourself talked to me and tried to calm _me_ down when _you’re_ the one who could get hurt.”

Baekhyun gave him that wicked-smile, “I knew you were special, Park Chanyeol. You are… something else.”

The smaller shifted up; Chanyeol tried not to notice how their skin rubbed against each other creating beautiful friction, so he straightened out, sitting next to Baekhyun, and trying to calm himself down.

“Besides, I didn’t find you,” Baekhyun admitted, “I was following you.” Upon seeing Chanyeol’s highly raised eyebrows and open mouth and scandalized expression, he said, “What? I said I’d be looking out for you, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t even realize!” Chanyeol protested in a low voice, “You didn’t even make any sound or-” He paused, looking right at Baekhyun, “The marsh land!”

Baekhyun smiled and then winced when the gash on his cheek hurt, “Well, at least you figured it out. I couldn’t leave you there alone, now could I? Besides, I’m really proud of you,” The way he said it – with that soft, rosy tint on his cheeks and those bright eyes and that small, cute smile made Chanyeol’s heart swell and his skin red; he felt that he had never known how victory felt before this, “The way you handled everything was amazing; inspiring and well-thought out. And you could even control the fire – it’s known to be hard to control your powers but you weren’t scared of it and you passed the level on your first try. I’m really, _really_ proud of you.”

Chanyeol’s heart was sprouting flowers suddenly, and he didn’t know what came over him when he said, “I’m really proud of you too.”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, “Really? For what?” His voice hid a smile. And it was soft and Chanyeol didn’t know what came over him but his hand reached out and placed itself on Baekhyun’s soft and firm cheeks, rounding the gash.

Chanyeol was aware he was blushing – he didn’t want to think why but he was when he said, “For making it this far.” His voice came out as a whisper and he felt that even though the sentence was vague, it made a lot of sense. And Baekhyun’s eyes filled with that sarcasm again – the one he used for covering up – but when Baekhyun blinked, that sarcasm was gone. Instead, his eyes were red and wet. He was still smiling and Chanyeol’s heart burned at how painful it was for Baekhyun. Chanyeol didn’t know what had happened to him but he didn’t need to know unless Baekhyun felt like telling him, so he didn’t care.

He just smiled and the moment continued. They were smiling and getting closer and closer… their eyes shut and he could brush his lips against Baekhyun’s soft ones and –

Something shifted in the air. A loud crunch sounded and a painful sound rose – it wasn’t an animal or a human. It was the Earth. Their eyes simultaneously flew open and as they turned away from each other and looked out to the front, they saw it – the Tree of Life springing without being summoned. The purple background with lightning streaks and colors came alive and Chanyeol saw – saw how the tree was shaking and the branches bending. Instead, the roots were coming up. Chanyeol noticed that the fire, light, ice and flight branches were constant but the others were bent painfully. The whole tree shook and another scream rose from the Earth.

“Fuck” Baekhyun got up, his eyes were wide and alert, “The others are in trouble. We have to go. Now!”

“Baekhyun!” Came a loud scream from the window. Chanyeol looked up to see Xiumin shouting from the Level 0 room, “It’s much worse. The Earth is going to destroy the whole street!”

Chanyeol noticed how shock passed through Baekhyun’s face before it was masked with calmness and authority, “Chanyeol!” He grabbed the taller’s hand, “We’re going. Hurry!”

Chanyeol followed him without resistance, running quickly towards the building when he remembered, “Wait, Sehun said only people who are on Level Six-”

Baekhyun looked at him exasperatedly while running, “Chanyeol, fucking rules don’t matter! They’re just to train us better for _this._ Besides, you’re good enough,” He side-eyed the sword, “And you have _that_.”

Chanyeol nodded, internally calming himself down. _You were just so confident and perfect Park Chanyeol, Prince of Fire. Why did you switch back to Sucky ParkCy?_ They reached the building and _dashed_ inside. Chanyeol followed Baekhyun to the Level 0. Xiumin and Kris were already there and they were panicking.

“How did this happen? In the morning, it was okay! We thought we can hold it off for another night and even Suho was there and we didn’t know-” Kris started rambling but was shut off by Baekhyun.

“Kris. Stop rambling,” Baekhyun turned to Xiumin, “What do we know?”

Xiumin took in a deep breath, “Apparently, the tremors became too much and we sent the others but then the Earth started sending spirits and the whole of Mall-Road was closed down under the pretense of underground drilling or some other cover-up while all of them were fighting and now, there’s a whole army there and the electricity is getting damaged and the people are put to sleep at six only.”

Baekhyun nodded. He shut his eyes for a few moments before opening them again and this time, they were filled with firmness and boldness, “Kris. I want you to fly Chanyeol and me to Mall-Road-”

“But Baekhyun, he’s a newbie-” Xiumin started but Baekhyun stopped him.

“He can control his powers and knows how to fight. And I’ll take responsibility for him,” Baekhyun stopped and his next words came out way more fragile than the rest, “Besides, we need him, Hyung. Trust me.”

Xiumin sighed, giving in, “All right, I trust you,” Xiumin turned to Chanyeol and the taller found himself pulling on his ear again under the hard gaze of the older but then his eyes softened, “And I trust you Chanyeol. Even though, we don’t know each other very well, yet. I trust you. Stay safe.”

Chanyeol nodded, “I’ll try.”

Xiumin smiled warmly at him and Baekhyun continued, “Kris, I want you to return back to the base and help Minseok guard it. If the situation goes to red, we’ll alert you,” He paused, “Don’t let Earth try nasty things on our base, yeah? Call the government for some of our managers and secretaries. We need them.”

Xiumin nodded and left the room. And the heaviness in the air intensified as Baekhyun turned around to face Kris and Chanyeol and then he said –

“Well, let’s fly then, shall we?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter - iexoeris


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was unfair...

# Chapter 5

 

Chanyeol’s first flying experience was unforgettable. Kris turned into a dragon, with scales and everything. Yes, a dragon. His body became his brackish red color and _his_ head became green and Baekhyun easily swung his legs onto his back, his legs tucked in underneath the wings. Chanyeol stood there at first, blinking at the sight and thinking _– ‘It’s real. It’s Kris. It’s real. It’s Kris.’_ Baekhyun gestured for him to come and sit; he was quite impatient so Chanyeol followed, sitting behind Baekhyun and his face morphed an expression of disbelief and discomfort when he felt the scales dig into his you-know-what. If the same was happening with Baekhyun, he didn’t show it. Instead his back was straight and eyes resided straight ahead, hands at ease and yet alert – he looked regal in every manner.  

“Rise,” Baekhyun said, when Chanyeol was sitting safely and at once, Kris the Dragon (what a funny thought) rose, his wings impending and tilting up towards the dark night sky. A sudden gust of air hit Chanyeol which made him almost fall, so he grabbed something on his left. He wished he hadn’t – it was the starting of the muscle body of the wing of the dragon – he could feel the leathery skin and the muscles and the vibration and the way it moved – it was… not something he liked.

And then the wind flapped.

Chanyeol felt he’d fly up with the air blast. The whole muscly, leathery piece of meat went up and down and the dragon lifted more towards the sky, his feet spread. Chanyeol, by this point of time, figured that he couldn’t hold on to the wing, so he retreated his hands and raised them forward – so that, they were hovering around Baekhyun’s _waist_ – not holding because he hadn’t received any sort of ‘ _Yes, you can keep your hands around me’_ So, he just let his hands stay in the air awkwardly. Then, Baekhyun tilted his head back and said –

“You can hold me,” His voice was lost in the wind but Chanyeol heard him still. The sentence was much more intimate than it should have been and it made weird things happen to Chanyeol’s stomach – and he didn’t need weirder things to happen to his stomach because he was on a dragon and the state of his stomach was _not_ good.

Chanyeol slid his arms around Baekhyun’s waist. Baekhyun’s leather jacket was zipped open and it was loose so, instead of wrapping his arms around the jacket, he wrapped his arms around the very-thin material (sort of silk but more cottony), encasing Baekhyun’s tiny waist. He dared not squeeze his arms tightly because Baekhyun was really delicate, according to him. His skin was soft and white and all baby and Chanyeol’s huge, muscly arms – if wrapped tightly – could result in his palms reaching Baekhyun’s back – that’s how small the Emperor of Light was.

But then, Kris’s speed increased and he went in an upward nose-dive which resulted in Baekhyun falling flat on Chanyeol’s chest. His head hit a little below Chanyeol’s shoulder and his head was tilted upwards, looking at him with such innocent droopy eyes, blinking at him and his mouth opened a little in surprise – so cute – and Chanyeol’s arms wrapped around him on instinct – harder and firm, holding the little beauty in place. Baekhyun didn’t move away from Chanyeol. One of his little, pretty hands placed itself on Chanyeol’s arms that were wrapped in such a way, they reached Baekhyun’s small chest and the other held tight on Chanyeol’s knees. Baekhyun scouted closer. His whole body weight fell against Chanyeol and his hair tickled the taller’s neck. Chanyeol could smell Baekhyun – that leathery, strawberry, grassy scent around him. And then there was just that human musk in the air that was Baekhyun.

All senses of Chanyeol revolved around Baekhyun – his skin was warm where Baekhyun was holding his hand, his knee was cutely cupped and his middle body belonged to the Emperor of Light. Chanyeol also relished in the way Baekhyun’s little chest went up and down with each breath and he could feel the movement beneath his fingers. His thumb almost reached Baekhyun’s nipples but Chanyeol didn’t dare touch him anywhere. His eyes soaked in Baekhyun – from the way he was sprawled on his body to the way his eyelashes brushed his cheeks and how he breathed – his lips puffing up while breathing – he noticed everything. He smelt the soft and nice perfume that Baekhyun gave out – the heat that he radiated. Everything was Baekhyun.

And it was probably at this moment that Chanyeol allowed himself the realization that he sorta liked Baekhyun – a little crush. He wasn’t shocked by the revelation though. Baekhyun was really inspiring and nice… and right now, Chanyeol was happy enjoying the moment.

  


The landing was uneven and it almost threw them off. It wasn’t Kris’s fault. It was the Earth. It was shaking harshly. Baekhyun separated from him and jumped off Kris, landing on the ground perfectly. Chanyeol followed him, landing at a distance. And he almost fell with how the ground shook beneath his feet. And as he looked up, he saw a light glow over all the buildings. This seemed to keep them intact.

“Luhan and Tao – they’re keeping the buildings in place by freezing them and the time, so it wouldn’t affect the buildings,” Baekhyun explained quickly, before scanning the area. The situation was rather bad. Aside from the constant shaking of the ground, many trees seemed to catch fire. There was no electricity but there was lightning and thunder and the winds were strong. The whole area was unstable. Unbalanced. The Tree of Life was unbalanced.

Chanyeol somehow understood what to do. He had no idea how but he knew.

“Let’s go,” Baekhyun said as Kris flew back towards the base. They ran towards the center of the area – where the others should be. Their steps were fast, rushed and uneven. However, quite contrary to his body, Chanyeol’s mind was clear.

The center area was in a state of devastation. The shops on the road were on fire and there were many spirits walking around. Some of them were white-skinned with red eyes, others were the tree spirits, and some were lake spirits. Chanyeol also spotted the posse. Luhan and Tao were standing still in the center, looking tired and sweaty, even under the crazy, cold rain. Their eyes were focused and rays of golden escaped from their hands.

A guy with lightning sparks in his hand – Chanyeol presumed him to be Chen or Jongdae was running around throwing his sparks in the Earth and all around – putting out fires and stabilizing the balance. Sehun slowed down the wind by making hurricanes that flew up and away. The younger had never looked as focused as he did then. Jongin swapped from one place to another, with a knife, killing off those spirits while Suho doused the fire. Kyungsoo fought the roots and the stones and the trees that came out of nowhere, while Lay helped the injured people and healed the damaged trees (trees, not spirits). It got harder for them to fight in the dark as roots of trees wrapped around their legs but then Baekhyun stepped forward.

He raised his hands up in the sky and held them tight together and suddenly, a long, bright shard of light appeared in his hold, its sharp edge pointed towards the Earth. The shard was brimming with energy and Chanyeol could feel the pull of it deep in his stomach. With a loud shout, Baekhyun implanted the shard within the Earth and a huge shockwave followed as the entirety of the land experienced a great shield of light spreading out towards infinity, lighting up the planet. The dark canvass lit up entirely and the tremors stopped.

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide as he saw the pure radiation of immense power from Baekhyun. He had taken to calling the older ‘The Emperor of Light’ just because but this display of power just showed that he deserved the name. It was meant for him. He _owned_ it. Then, Baekhyun looked up – his eyes exhausted – but he still stood up; tall and straight and gave Chanyeol a look which said ‘All the best,’ before rushing to aid his friends. Chanyeol could only watched; perplexed. His heart strings tugged for some reason as he saw Baekhyun walking away from him which was really lame.

Chanyeol forced his tired and frozen feet to walk and he found himself in front of the burning shops, next to Suho.

“Chanyeol,” Suho said, before taking in a deep breath and dosing a shop in water again, “What are you doing here?”

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol answered simply before taking out his sword and he had no idea what he was doing when he pushed the tip of the sword in the fire but he _knew._ And it showed when the fire swirled around his sword one time, two time and finally being absorbed by the sword in the third time.

Chanyeol pulled back to look at Suho, whose eyes were wide, “How did you –?”

“I completed the First Level. Found the sword.” Chanyeol answered before moving forward to another shop and doing the same. He felt the heat but he wasn’t bothered by it that much. He had never been that bothered by summers as much as his elder sister and the same was the case with fire crackers. While his sister was afraid of them, he played with them, often scaring his parents. They hadn’t understood back then. Chanyeol hadn’t known it back then. But now, he did.

And he was going to use it.

There was no fire that couldn’t be absorbed by his sword. The red sword just gained more energy as the fire in it increased and soon there wasn’t any shop on fire. There was damage done, yes, but the damage would have been more if the fire wasn’t stopped by him. The others noticed him, told him where to go and made quick conversation. He didn’t feel as if he was different from any of them. Instead he felt connected to them by a string of fate – they were one.

And as Chanyeol moved back, his back crashed with something. Turning his head, he noticed one of those white skinned spirits. Chanyeol didn’t think much. He sliced the spirit cleanly into two. As the thing dissolved in vapor, allowing the Prince of Fire to see past, Chanyeol saw Baekhyun looking at him with an unreadable expression. The shorter walked up to Chanyeol –

“Chanyeol, take care of the spirits. Sehun and Kai will help you. We’ll balance some things.” Baekhyun commanded before running off to where the others were waiting for him. And then he was gone. Chanyeol felt empty. But he didn’t let the thought linger. He ran towards Sehun and Kai.

“Baekhyun told me to help you guys fight the spirits,” He explained. Kai nodded before disappearing. Sehun smirked –

“Welcome to the Mayhem Club. We kill!” He shouted madly before creating a huge gust of wind that flew across the whole area, causing heads of spirits to knock against each-other. Chanyeol smiled too. He liked the sound of ‘Mayhem Club’ and he would accept being a part of any group, as long as he was accepted.

He raised his sword and stabbed it down, watching the energy pool out and then in one blast a quick wave of fire spread towards the seemingly endless waves of spirits marching their way. Most of them burned to ash as the wave spread. And then Chanyeol felt it – a drop in his stomach, ache in his muscle, dizziness in his head and tiredness that he had never known before. He leaned against the nearest thing, which happened to be Sehun.

“There, careful. Don’t do that too much. Using powers make you tired. So keep it minimum,” Sehun explained in short sentences, which Chanyeol was grateful for because he wouldn’t have understood any long, beautiful sentence in his state. He felt the world turn once and then twice. Then, he felt a hand on his wrist – a foreign, warm hand and suddenly some feel returned to his body and his exhaustion lessened drastically. He opened his eyes, which he didn’t know were closed to see Lay smiling at him; his dimple visible in the light that Baekhyun had spread.

“Don’t worry, I’m a healer. I’ll help you when you get tired.” He said, before walking towards Chen, who was doubled over and panting.

Chanyeol casted a look towards his sword. It was still fiery however the energy had disappeared, so had the wave of fire, while Baekhyun’s still remained – Emperor of Light, indeed. Chanyeol searched for him through the light rain. He found him towards the center of some trees. His hands were raised and light poured down in the Earth. Chanyeol realized that the tremors were unnoticeable now and that only the spirits and the rain remained. Their stabilizing was working.

Chanyeol looked ahead at his own challenge – Kai was still zapping out and in. He didn’t look tired with how much regularity he was doing it but Chanyeol knew he must have been exhausted dead. Sehun still summoned the wind and kept on fighting the spirits. They didn’t give up. A quick look around him showed that nobody was giving up – Chen was up and fighting again. Lay was till healing people. Suho was shouting commands. The golden on the apartments showed that Luhan and Tao were still freezing the buildings and time, respectively. Kyungsoo was still pushing everything that came out of the Earth down. After looking at all this, he didn’t understand why he was just standing there.

He raised his sword and ran towards the spirits, knowing victory welcomed him in the long run.

  
  


“That was one of the most tiring fights ever!” Sehun groaned, flopping back against the concrete wall among the sweaty, tired and drained bodies that lined one foot path.

“But it was fun,” Kai mumbled, his head resting on D.O.’s shoulders. D.O.’s eyes were shut, his head perched against the wall. He might have been asleep.

Suddenly Luhan leaned forward and fell onto Sehun’s shoulders, “But Chanyeol, you were amazing. Not even as a first-timer – you were just… amazing.”

Chanyeol was too tired to respond properly, so he just mumbled, “Thank you.”

“He learned from the best,” Baekhyun said jokingly. His deep eye-circles were too prominent and some cuts on his face were too wet to make it seem like a joke though, at least for Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo, who turned out to be awake, scoffed, “He’s known you for a day, Baekhyun. Don’t talk that big.”

Tao snickered. His eyes were closed. His head fell onto Lay’s shoulders. Chanyeol didn’t think he found anything funny, except for the fact that he was alive. After all the power-work that Tao and Luhan had carried out, it seemed miraculous that they were okay and talking.

“But, yeah we made it,” Lay said, totally out of context but that was the main point. They made it. And they were tired. Chanyeol was so tired that he found it okay to let his head rest on Baekhyun’s shoulder and he slept on the comfortable spot with a smile on his face.

  
  


The next two days – Saturday and Sunday were spent on Chanyeol’s training. Baekhyun had become his personal trainer of sorts. He was there to guide him through everything –

“So, today we’re going to start Level One and that is Basic Power Control!” He said, with a too-bright smile on his face for someone who made sure all the members reached the Base safely and that they ate, showered and slept comfortably while he, along with Suho and Xiumin had gone to the area again to make sure everything was alright, and contacted the government and induced a severe dream sequence for the man who was responsible for all of this and returned at 3 AM and woke up at 7.

Chanyeol smiled fondly. Baekhyun’s smile dropped all at once and his eyes narrowed.

“What? What is it?” He asked.

Chanyeol just shook his head, “You’re so fake right now, I can’t even-” The taller chuckled.

Baekhyun groaned and flopped onto the couch of the Level Zero. His head dipped down as he massaged it with his hands.

“I’m so tired… and done. But,” He stood up, sincerity in his eyes, “This is important. You’ll need to learn how to control your powers and shit, and I know you’re already good at it but you need to understand stuff, your body reactions, how much usage is enough, how to calculate the effect of your power depending upon the force you have applied and other stuff.”

“So, I have to study.” Chanyeol summed up, not looking quite excited about it.

“Basically, yes. There’s a lot of reading and learning and notes and experiments,” Baekhyun sighed, as if he was already tired before even starting it, but he regained his composure seconds later and a confident smile graced his face, “Let’s do it, yeah?”

 

The Level One room spread across more than half of the first floor and most of it was library sections. Chanyeol sighed. He was good at studying. He liked reading but this – the tall, looming shelves with leather-bounded, heavy, old books – was too much. He gave Baekhyun a look, which he hoped summed his miserliness. Baekhyun just gave him a fake enthusiastic smile. He still looked cute, even with the dark-circles, and paleness and that weird smile.

“So, let’s begin.” Baekhyun announced and the torture began.

 

For the rest of the day, Chanyeol sat in the room, with a thick note-book in hand, writing and highlighting important facts about fire and fire-users. The only bright-side was that Baekhyun was stuck with him.

“The main traits of fire-users are their boldness and bravery,” Baekhyun read out and Chanyeol snorted.

“I’m neither brave nor bold.”

Baekhyun blinked at him, “Well, that didn’t seem to be true last night. You were pretty brave and bold.” Chanyeol tried not to think about how wrong the sentence sounded and instead, he focused on answering.

“That was a spur of the moment thing. If you’d ever see me in school, you’ll pity me.” Chanyeol explained. He himself pitied his school-self. His head always hung low and while, he tried to bring about change by not caring about the social hierarchy, he had no friends and nobody cared about him.

“I won’t pity you unless you ask for it,” Baekhyun said and his voice screamed defiance and the need to stand up for oneself was clear in his tone. It was obvious in the way his chin tilted up. Chanyeol didn’t need pity but he wasn’t so focused on standing up for himself and being respected like Baekhyun was and needed to be, so he just sighed and gestured for Baekhyun to continue.

The other frowned but continued, “Fire-users generally shock people with how wide their range of emotions is. They are mostly defined as comfortable and homey.”

“That whole thing is fucked up and wrong,” Chanyeol pointed out, “My house is homey but not me. I don’t do homey and comfortable.”

Baekhyun frowned again, “That’s not true. You’re pretty homey.”

“How so?”

Baekhyun shrugged; his eyes darting towards the bookshelves, “I mean, you’re really comfortable to talk you. You don’t react to anything much. You understand people quickly. Emotions are your strong suit and you’re just… homey.”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows were raised, “Well, it seems you understand people quickly. You made remarkable observation about me. However, your observation was: all _wrong_.” Chanyeol’s voice came out cold and choppy, in clean-cut sentences. It almost seemed as if he was… deeply offended.

“No!” Baekhyun protested out loud, before blushing a deep-red, “I mean – you’re homey Park. Last night,” The blush intensified, “We – uh, when on Kris-” Chanyeol’s eyes widened as he realized what Baekhyun was going to say, “I leaned against you – because, I was tired _you know_?” His voice came out very loud, as if he was convincing himself rather than Chanyeol and he blushed more, “I mean, I was tired so I leaned against you and it was… really comfortable. Like, I’ve never felt that at home in a long, long time.”

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun, who was flushed (which was new) and he took in the words and oh, how he wanted to ask Baekhyun if he knew what his words could mean. He wanted to ask if Baekhyun was aware of what he was hinting.

But there was something that stood out more to Chanyeol and that’s what he asked –

“How long has it been since you’ve been at home?”

And that sentence was all it took for the moment to break and the magic to disappear. Baekhyun’s eyes darted downwards and the blush disappeared. And Chanyeol saw it – saw the transformation as Baekhyun gulped, swallowing his emotions and how his chin quivered. He saw how Baekhyun gritted his teeth, lifted his chin up in that regal way, saw how his eyes hardened completely – dark, empty and sarcastic, saw his lips curl in a smirk or a small sneer, and his head tilt, saw his eyes move up when he was ready to face Chanyeol –

“I’ve been at home all this time, Chanyeol. This-” He got up, standing firm on his feet, hands spread out towards the room, and with gritted teeth, he continued, “Is my home.”

If Chanyeol was any more compassionate, if he was any more interested, if he wasn’t the reason of the switch – he would have cried. He would have cried because of the utter lie that the sentence spoken by the Emperor of Light contained. He would have cried because it was painful to hear that. He would have cried because it was painful for Baekhyun to say it. It was painful because Baekhyun was holding back his tears – he was holding himself back and in that moment Chanyeol would have cried because –

 _Baekhyun was just so fucking lonely_.

It was unfair.

What was even more unfair was that Baekhyun didn’t want anyone, didn’t want anything

_But,_

he needed someone. Something! But all that relished was in his painful solitude – and that was what Chanyeol felt when Baekhyun left the room, left him alone. Again.

Unfair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment please! 
> 
> Twitter - iexoeris


	6. Chapter 6

# Chapter 6

 

The next day when Chanyeol woke up, he found Lay on his door, standing with a dimple on his face and his hands clasped behind his back.

“I’m going to be your instructor for today. Baekhyun had some hunt to go to.” Needless to say, Chanyeol was disappointed. He knew it wasn’t because Baekhyun was busy. It was because Chanyeol had crossed some limits yesterday. But he still smiled at Lay, because Lay was innocent and didn’t deserve to be treated badly.

“That sounds perfect!” He exclaimed.

  


Lay helped him read more about his powers and they did several demonstrations – melting candles, ice and procuring fire blasts, burning things, adjusting the time – it went on to till the afternoon but Chanyeol wasn’t tired. He had read about managing your strength and he knew how to do it. And while using his powers for small things like the ones he’d been doing the entire morning, he was required to just stand or sit, so there wasn’t any physical exertion.

At Lunch in the cafeteria (Baekhyun was absent), Lay announced that Chanyeol had cleared the Second Level and people congratulated him for his fast progress. All of them talked a little but Chanyeol felt really lonely without a certain person that had become a norm for Chanyeol in this world. This – everything – started with Baekhyun and the Emperor of Light had assisted Chanyeol at every step. It felt empty without him.

Later in the afternoon, in the elevator, moving towards Level Three, Lay smiled at him.

“You miss him.” He stated. The taller didn’t need to ask to figure out who Lay was talking about.

So, he just shrugged, “It’s different, because for the past few days, he’d been there a lot.”

Lay nodded and then he said, “You like him, don’t you?”

Chanyeol’s eyes darted towards Lay, who just smiled at Chanyeol’s perplexed expression, “I’m a healer and for healing, I have to know what’s wrong. Similarly, I recognize sad hearts when I see them,” He explained, “And Baekhyun,” he chuckled sadly, “Well, that boy had never been happy. He was the one who taught me, you know.” Lay’s sharp eyes dug into Chanyeol’s, “He told me how to recognize emotions. I researched more and realized that Baekhyun himself was really… he was just not happy.”

“Why?” Chanyeol’s voice came out smaller. It was the first time he wanted to find out. He’d been interested, yes, but he _wanted_ to know Baekhyun’s story. He _needed_ to know.

But… he didn’t want anyone who wasn’t Baekhyun to tell him.

  
  
  


Baekhyun wasn’t there that night.

“He’s not here a lot,” Jongdae shrugged, popping open the cap of a cola, and continuing on to take a sip, “He’s really insistent on going hunting and protecting people, you know.”

Chanyeol nodded, his hands folded on the cafeteria table, “Yeah…” He looked at Jongdae, “But why?”

Jongdae tilted his head, looking at him. He handed Chanyeol an open can of coke too, “He’s always been someone to take responsibilities very seriously. You can call him a workaholic.”

Chanyeol frowned. He didn’t have the courage to ask more, but he knew that this conversation was going nowhere. He got up; his chair slid against the floor.

“I’m tired. I’m calling it a day,” He said, nodding to his members and walking out of the cafeteria; his coke untouched. Jongdae eyed it and before, he could take it, Xiumin snatched it away, taking long gulps from the drink.

Suho just shook his head, and looked at the now-empty chair, “He’s in deep.”

Luhan nodded, biting at his lips and looking out at the dark sky form the window, where the moon was hidden from sight by hazy, storm clouds, “I’m worried.”

Lay leaned forward with a smile, closing the windows, “Don’t worry, he’s not the only one in deep.” He eyed the other empty chair.

Suho looked up at him, “And that’s what I’m worried about most.”

  


Baekhyun watched the moon dip behind the clouds, as storm clouds covered the shining spectacle. He couldn’t help but relate it to his life. His power was light after all. He sort of symbolized the moon but of course, it was hidden by dark clouds that signified his circumstances. In the silence, a positive and familiar voice rang out within him, ‘Dark clouds, son, are temporary.’ The memory of the voice; so alive in his ears, didn’t help soothe his mind. He sighed, leaning against the tree. He was sitting at the edge of a small cliff. It was a dangerous spot, from where roots could easily push him down if they had enough reasons to, but he was sure that nothing was going to happen here. He had already given this area a lot of his energy to balance the Tree. Besides, there wasn’t really any harmful civilization here – just calm, nice grandparents who loved planting a garden. He had already scanned them. Nothing here was threatening to nature. This contributed to the feeling of safety that surrounded him, along with the sheer exhaustion and tiredness. He was tired.

He had been doing this balancing stuff and natural stuff since he was twelve, so the sudden drain of muscles that one felt after using their powers didn’t stop him from moving around or doing any work. It didn’t endanger his life or hurt him, but he could feel the dullness in his muscles, the heaviness in his bones and a sinking feeling around him. He was used to it all; not immune to it. But he tried his best to mask his constant unhappiness behind his mask; fake. Just like everything else.

He closed his burning eyes, craving relief and comfort and probably a certain person’s chest but getting nothing.

It was still calming though. And the slight wind on his face seemed nice. He might dose off for a little bit…

The sound of a vehicle shook him out of his half state of slumber. Of course, nobody really liked the concept of Byun Baekhyun finally resting after so long, so they had to create disturbances to bother him and push him to his limits. His eyes opened, viewing the plunge below and the sky, which had darkened even more, filled with storm clouds and harsh winds. Baekhyun’s instincts acted up before he could put the pieces together and soon, the Tree of Life was present in front of him and he saw it – the flaw. The Tree was bending at a fast rate, the powers unbalanced as the anger of nature increased more. Something was being taken away from Nature and that meant that something would be taken away by Nature. That’s how life functioned. An eye for an eye.

Baekhyun’s tired legs shot up and he stumbled around, before forcing himself to gain balance. He registered that there was fifteen minutes left before midnight. How did he know this? He had no idea. Six years of doing this had polished many of his skills. And he knew that anything could happen in those fifteen minutes.

He ran towards the sound; the cold air brushing harshly against his skin and the sight that he saw made him curse. There was a bulldozer, near the grandparent’s house, cutting some trees away. Baekhyun recognized the bulldozer of course. It was from ‘Webuild’ – one of the biggest companies that made buildings and other stuff. Many times in the past, Webuild had been attacked by our favorite Mother and Baekhyun had to save it. He _hated_ the company, but he couldn’t close it down on his own. Stuff like that required help from the government and they were already trying hard. There were many cases against Webuild but the company did not stop its constructions which was just _plain_ annoying. And now here they were, trying to ruin another safe nature resort.

So, Baekhyun did what he normally did in these situations: hide and summon a message written by literal light. This was meant to scare away these people. Warmth filled his arms as light poured out of his palms, surrounding the bulldozer and writing, in creepy, cursive handwriting –

_‘Stop, you stupid human. If you cut these trees, you will suffer.’_

The message was the lamest one he had ever written but he was too tired to summon his writer self. He could feel his arms getting even heavier and a familiar burn started spreading down his body. He had definitely crossed the safe limit for using his powers in a day and it could be felt in the way his light wasn’t _that_ powerful, but it still did the trick. The two men on the bulldozer shrieked –

“Oh, the curse! Not again!” The men turned the bulldozer off and jumped down (which was funny) and started running back towards the city. Baekhyun smiled, although his smile was dazed and he felt dizzy. His knees gave out as he fell on the ground, on all fours, trying to stay conscious as thoughts on nothing and yet everything filled his mind. Between that confusion was the state of consciousness that he was barely grabbing onto. In that state of struggle, he could hear the soft noise of a door opening and some voices shouting ‘Who’s there?’ and ‘I don’t know, I heard someone.’ And Baekhyun could feel the tense Earth beneath him squeak in glee as it found a target to make up for its loss - after all its skin had been peeled off; the trees had been cut. And Baekhyun felt the movement beneath his hands, the way the thick roots slid beneath him, towards the little house.

And he realized it too late.

His shouts rang in the dark, but it was too late. The thick roots emerged in their glory. Shrill shrieks filled the perimeter and Baekhyun tried to get up, but failed and landed back on his fours, with his hands scraped and bleeding. He cursed lightly and starting crawling towards the house, determined to save the nice grandparents. He begged his body to serve him once again. Uncomfortable waves of heat ran down his arms as he tried summoning light again. Baekhyun swore he could feel sparks shooting off from his skin but he was too out of it to notice. His vision was dark and filled with spots but he tried hard. He wasn’t going to allow a tragedy here. He crawled towards the house and he didn’t stop. Even when the thick roots wrapped around his thin frame and lifted him up, immune to his small attempts of struggle, throwing him off somewhere, he tried to summon his light. Even when he fell hard against some sharp grass and coughed up blood, he pulled himself up. And he stumbled towards the house - his legs dying because of his weight; his waist aching and spine hurting; his eyes heavy; his chest hurt and bleeding; his arms burnt because of the extra strain he’d been putting on them, thanks to conjuring up light so regularly for the past week – he stumbled and fell right in front of the house.

He was too late.

One wall of the house was broken, and roots and trees took up the space inside it. The last thing he saw before blacking out was two bodies being pulled up into the earth with smiles on their faces, as they slept, not knowing they were never going to wake up again. His last thought was ‘The earth had its revenge again.’ Tears clouded his vision.

And then, he blacked out.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

# Chapter 7

  


Chanyeol felt the commotion before he saw it. There was a certain sensation to fear, nervousness, and panic and it was all Chanyeol could taste as he woke up that Sunday in his room at the Base. His room was clean – white, black and brown with a window, an average-sized bed, a table, a drawer and a bathroom. It resembled a hotel room. His unproblematic and clean-self _loved_ it. But he didn’t have time to admire it that morning because of the unrest in the air. He hurried up while brushing his teeth and getting ready. As he stepped out of his room, he was lucky enough to catch Kyungsoo passing by the hallway.

Chanyeol reached out and grabbed his sleeve, “Hey, is something happening?”

Kyungsoo looked at him; eyes rimmed slightly and that was enough to let Chanyeol know – yes, something was happening.

“What is it?” The taller prompted.

Kyungsoo didn’t say a sentence, just one word but that one word was enough to make Chanyeol’s heart jump out with panic –

_“Baekhyun.”_

  


Chanyeol was filled in on what had happened yesterday night by different mouths in about a few minutes. Lay had assured Chanyeol that Baekhyun’s physical condition was okay; that he was strong and needed rest, which calmed Chanyeol down (in his opinion, Baekhyun was really small and thin and needed to be protected, but he’s never voicing this out, because Baekhyun would skin him alive.)

“The problem is that…” Lay paused, looking down at the floor, looking upset. Chanyeol felt bad for him but he was impatient and wanted to know what was wrong with Baekhyun. As soon as possible, please.

“Yes?” Chanyeol said, perhaps a little too quickly, “What is it?”

Lay looked up, “He’s not letting anybody in his room. And we’re all worried.” The healer sighed, worried about his friend but as he registered the look in Chanyeol’s eyes, he knew what the other was thinking.

“I was thinking, maybe I could-” Chanyeol started but Lay stopped him.

“Yes, that’s a good idea. That’s his room,” Lay pointed and left, leaving Chanyeol confused but grateful.

  
  
  


Chanyeol knocked on the door once.

There was no reply.

He sighed, before knocking on the door again, harder, hoping to elicit a response.

He got one. Baekhyun’s muffled voice called out, “I said I don’t want to see anyone. Leave me alone.” It wasn’t the response Chanyeol had wanted. His heart ached for the older. He had heard what had happened – two deaths. Right in front of Baekhyun. Over-use e of powers leading to burns. Exhaustion and fatigue and injuries… there was so much. He just wanted to hide Baekhyun away from all of this, which was a funny thought, because Chanyeol was the one who needed to be protected.

“Baekhyun,” He called out, “It’s me – Chanyeol,” He added for better measure (although he hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t have forgotten his voice), “Please let me come in.”

There was silence on the other side. Chanyeol also felt responsible. He probably a figure that could impact Baekhyun’s life, his emotions or his actions in the slightest – he wasn’t that great and Baekhyun had known him for what, two days or was it three? It didn’t matter. The important thing was that while Chanyeol wasn’t anybody that important, he felt that the slight argument he had with Baekhyun was to be blamed for the older’s decision to stay out all night. It was his fault – he shouldn’t have gotten so personal with Baekhyun. He just wanted to apologize for his mistakes and make sure the other was alright. He just wanted… to see him.

“Ba-Baekhyun,” His voice cracked with emotion but he managed to choke the name out. Chanyeol paused for a bit, breathing to calm himself down, “Open the door, please.”

And then he waited. He heard rustling behind the door and Chanyeol wondered if Baekhyun was going to let him in. He gulped in anticipation.

The door opened. First some artificial light poured into the slightly dim hallway and then the embodiment of light stepped out altogether, holding the door ajar. Chanyeol felt like crying for some reason. It was probably because of the look in Baekhyun’s red-rimmed eyes. He had never seen him so lost, so confused, look so purposeless. There was an open scar on his sunken cheeks – like they were full, but they looked _so_ sunken. And his eyes had these horrible dark circles and his lips were too red, as if he’d been biting them and his hair was a mess. Baekhyun looked…dead.

Little hands curled up in his sweater and it was only then that Chanyeol realized that he was hugging Baekhyun. His hands wrapped around protectively around Baekhyun’s head and back. Baekhyun’s head rested in the crook of Chanyeol’s neck, his little hands fisted around his sweater tightly, as if he wasn’t going to let go. Chanyeol let his head fall down onto Baekhyun’s head, the soft curls nuzzling his nose. He breathed in that – in Baekhyun and he smelt something like strawberry and some antiseptic. Yes, he must have been injured.

Chanyeol pulled away at that, stepping in the room and closing the door behind him. He looked over Baekhyun, inspecting his figure. His right arm was bandaged completely and Chanyeol could see the ends of the white bandage spilling from beneath his sweater. There were smaller bandages on his body and that was it. Chanyeol took a deep breath; it came out shaky and ragged.

Baekhyun just looked at him, waiting for the taller to say something but all Chanyeol wanted to do was hug him again and never let him out of his sight –

“You – you scared me,” Chanyeol whispered, his hand tailing down Baekhyun’s cheeks, admiring the soft skin.

“I know,” Baekhyun’s voice came out monotonous, “I’m sorry.”

They paused, not knowing where to carry this conversation to. It was hard when your heart moved way faster than time, your body and your mind. All of their thoughts included them together; cuddling; close and safe.

Chanyeol bit his lip and Baekhyun’s eyes traced it, before looking to his side, making things more awkward. Chanyeol decided to speak –

“I’m sorry, for yesterday. I think I started speaking of matters that I shouldn’t have spoken of; I got too comfortable.” Chanyeol said and Baekhyun stared at him; his expression unreadable. He kept staring. Just kept staring and Chanyeol couldn’t stop fidgeting before Baekhyun burst out laughing, sitting on his bed.

Chanyeol blinked and put his hand on Baekhyun’s head.

“You’re not sick. Did you injure your head?” Chanyeol asked cutely, but he was being serious. Baekhyun just laughed more and moved his hand away –

“Shut up, dumbass!” Chanyeol frowned. Baekhyun was so weird.

When he didn’t stop, Chanyeol sprawled out next to him on the bed, “Tell me when you’re done.” He said, putting his head onto Baekhyun’s pillow and shutting his eyes.

He felt the bed dip beside him as Baekhyun lay next to him, “Sorry, it’s just,” He turned to face Chanyeol, his expression amused, “Why do you talk like such a grandma? ‘I started speaking of matters I shouldn’t have spoken of.’” He mimicked Chanyeol’s deep voice, “Like, I thought it was a riddle.”

Chanyeol just shook his head, mock-laughing. He understood though – understood what Baekhyun was trying to do, because, no he wasn’t stupid enough to start laughing like that. Sometimes, you had to lighten down everything before you broke under the pressure. So, Chanyeol just smiled at him fondly, one hand brushing through his hair.

“You’ll be okay,” And it was all it took for Baekhyun’s smile to disappear and be replaced by widened eyes –

“What?” Baekhyun shook his head, his next words were murmured, “How did you know…?”

“You’re brave,” Chanyeol stated, matter-of-fact “And you did your best. You’ll be okay.” Chanyeol said, still smiling at him, no matter how painful it was, while brushing his hair slowly, trying to provide him some sort of comfort.

And he watched as Baekhyun’s expression morphed into a painful one that _pulled_ Chanyeol’s heartstrings – Baekhyun’s eyebrows lumped together, as his face twisted. His eyes were dark, and hurt, and pained and wet. His lips upturned as soft sobs spilled past them.

“I- I won’t,” He said, sobbing, _tired_ , “I- _I_ failed. They – it is my, all _my_ fault.” Chanyeol saw the way his chest heaved up and down painfully and he pulled Baekhyun closer. The smaller didn’t resist.

“Chanyeol,” He hiccupped, “Why – I just” He looked at Chanyeol, with those big, innocent and _sad_ eyes, looking so lost, “I – _I can’t_ .” Baekhyun shook his head, burying himself into Chanyeol’s embrace with finality. The taller tightened his hold, his arms sneaking behind Baekhyun as the smaller grabbed Chanyeol’s shirt and moved closer, almost sitting in his lap. But Chanyeol didn’t really care. He had no time to be embarrassed when Baekhyun was so, so _vulnerable._ He just held him tight and rubbed his back as Baekhyun sobbed and let out his pain.

Soon, the sobs subsided only to be filled by small hiccups. Chanyeol tried to move away from Baekhyun to get the bottle of water placed on the bedside table but the smaller didn’t let him move. He looked up; eyes wet and cheeks red.

“D-don’t go,” His voice was frail but it was a command that Chanyeol needed to follow, so he wrapped his arms around Baekhyun again, moving towards the table with Baekhyun in his lap. He grabbed the bottle, opened it and offered it to Baekhyun, who took it reluctantly.  

“Thanks…” He murmured. Chanyeol just nodded and after Baekhyun was done drinking, he kept the bottle back. The Emperor of Fire once again buried his face into the crook of Chanyeol’s neck, as it was where he belonged.

They kept silence for a little while before Baekhyun’s smell and his touch and the silence became too much for Chanyeol, who dipped his head, flattening his cheek against Baekhyun’s hair.

“I missed you,” Chanyeol confessed. He didn’t know from where he got the courage or from where this came out but he missed Baekhyun. He liked having him close. Sure, they met days ago but there was an undeniable special connection between them, at least for Chanyeol.

Baekhyun looked up, forcing Chanyeol to move his head away, “I’m sorry. I missed you too.” Chanyeol smiled at the brutal honesty in his voice.

“You didn’t train me yesterday and you said you were going to help me throughout everything,” Chanyeol stated and then he shrugged, “You don’t seem like someone to go back on your promises, quite contrary to that.”

Baekhyun’s lips tugged upwards and this sharp gleam returned to his eyes, “Well, I thought I should give you a day-off Park. Training with me,” Baekhyun leaned back, still on Chanyeol’s lap, but sitting straight without support, and then he shrugged, “Well, it’s not easy to train with me. If I had my way, I would have made you spew all the books you read inside out, so,” He returned back, getting closer to Chanyeol, “Be grateful.”

Chanyeol grinned, “I don’t mind learning all the books inside out, if you’ll stay with me.”

And Chanyeol blinked when Baekhyun leaned his head back where it was and it was then that he realized how intimate that sentence was. He mentally berated himself for ruining the mood and everything but it turned out he didn’t have to because Baekhyun whispered –

“I’ll like that.”


	8. Chapter 8

# Chapter 8

 

There was a calm that settled in on between them. From the playful banter, to the occasional serious and deep moments to the silent and comfortable moments – they became closer. Chanyeol had to go to school that Monday and Xiumin drove all the kids to school with his van. Chanyeol didn’t feel different from all of them, now. They were fighting for one cause. They lived together. And Baekhyun had told him to be vocal about his feelings towards the others, so Chanyeol told Sehun, Kai and Kyungsoo, how he felt estranged, was slightly bullied and felt like he couldn’t relate to them.

Kai blinked, “Dude, you should have told us earlier. We had no intention to make you feel that way.”

Kyungsoo nodded, “These two try their best to be heart-throbs, but I think you know that they’re just idiots.”

Kai pouted, “Your idiots.”

Kyungsoo did not reply. Instead he talked to Xiumin about how school was killing him with those extra assignments.

Sehun leaned forward, “Chanyeol, you should hang out with us more. We’re the Mayhem Group after all.”

Chanyeol gave him a teeth smile, “After all.”

And that was all that needed to be said. People didn’t make fun of him when he stepped in with Kyungsoo, Kai and Sehun. He had a lot of fun at school that day. He played childish games with Kyungsoo and Kai in his boring Maths class, hung out with Sehun in P.E. and taught him English, did a cover with Kyungsoo in Music and ate with all of them in Lunch. All four of them became immediately inseparable.

“We finally found our lost member!” Kai exclaimed, as they walked out of school. And Chanyeol, Sehun and D.O. whooped, signing some sort of deal between them.

Xiumin noticed their cheery smiles, and eyed them knowingly, “Had fun kids?”

They all piled in the van and started recounting everything that happened that day, one by one and Xiumin listened intently, with a smile on his face.

The same stories were also repeated in the cafeteria, when all twelve of them were sitting. And as Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, who was till bandaged, he noticed him smiling widely. That brightened up his day.

  


“Level Three: Basic Weaponry,” Baekhyun said, opening the giant door, revealing a large storehouse of weapons ranging from knives, words, bows, crossbows, guns, swords and weird things that he didn’t recognize, “In this, we’re going to learn how to use all the weapons.”

Chanyeol paused, “But I have a sword,” He said, remembering his Sword that he had named ‘Ignis.’

Baekhyun nodded, “That’s right, But, just in case, you should know how to handle all the weapons, besides a sword is a short-range weapon. You should know how to use long-distance ones too.”

Chanyeol nodded, stepping in the room, noticing all sorts of dummies and targets and dart-boards. He turned back to see Baekhyun, “Which weapon do you use?”

Baekhyun smirked, “I use daggers. Double-daggers. They’re my preferred weapons. But I’m good with long-distance weapons too – guns, bows, cross-bows. I like swords too, but cavalry ones or short ones. But I confidently say that I have used every weapon here.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. There were way too many weapons here. There were heaps of daggers and swords just lying there, “You’re joking.”

Baekhyun clicked his tongue, “Nuh-uh. I’m not,” He strode forward, his hand brushing against one such pile of swords, “You know how you got your sword? From the Earth?”

Chanyeol nodded.

“I got most of these weapons in that way. All of those silver ones,” He pointed at two heaps of silver weapons – guns, crossbows, bullets, and swords, “I got them all.”

Chanyeol didn’t know what to say. He’d never underestimated Baekhyun’s skill but this was… too much.

“Emperor of Light,” He muttered before picking up a gun, while Baekhyun looked amusingly at him, “Can we start now?”

 

For the next few weeks, Chanyeol’s life went by a pattern. School, fun, practicing, Baekhyun and sleep. Sometimes, he slept at his house. He always felt alone when he did that. When he was sleeping at the Base, weird things happened – attacks, danger alarms, Kris sleep-walking and sleep-talking with sleep-walking Lay, Kyungsoo and Kai confessing to each other after fighting for a week, Sehun and Luhan skating and falling down the stairs on Suho – there were a lot of things happening.

He got closer to all of them. Tao, who was being home-schooled, stopped by his house and played football with him. He participated in many sleepovers with Sehun, Kyungsoo and Kai. Needless to say, he was really close to Sehun, because Kai and D.O. were always in their own world. He also liked teasing Suho and comparing his height to Kris and drinking coffee with Xiumin and wilding around with Chen and just having a lot of fun with everybody. They accepted him fast. And he learned all of their back-stories and how they were discovered – all except one.

In that sense, Baekhyun who was probably the closest to Chanyeol was the farthest from him.

But Chanyeol didn’t ask. He knew Baekhyun would tell him when he was ready. Besides, after all, there was some sort of tension between them, an awkwardness that they never mentioned. They didn’t want to ruin things.

  


Weeks became months and Chanyeol progressed. He had completed more levels – Level Four: Long Distance Zone – completed. It was one of the hardest since his aim was originally not that good. And guns were scary. He found it easier to use bows and arrows. He was good at archery.

Level Five: Short Distance Zone – completed. It was one of the craziest mission ever, because he was up against Baekhyun, whose short body moved around Chanyeol like air and water. Baekhyun was deft, quick, agile and accurate – everything that Chanyeol wasn’t.

“Hurry, quick!” The Emperor of Light shouted as he clashed his daggers at the hilt of Chanyeol’s sword, almost making it fall out of his hands, but Chanyeol held on tight. Baekhyun had done this – attack at his hilt – many times before. He was used to it. Chanyeol twisted his sword against the dagger, which was useless, because Baekhyun jumped back, making Chanyeol lose his balance and then he rushed in from the other side, tackling him to the ground, and putting his dagger against his neck.

He clicked his tongue, “You need to be faster Chanyeol.”

The taller sighed with difficulty because Baekhyun was sitting on his chest and they both realized their position at that moment. Baekhyun jumped up and Chanyeol slowly, stood up. Baekhyun was flushed, his skin red and he avoided his eyes.

“Let’s – let’s take a break.”

 

Chanyeol managed to clear the Level by defeating Luhan, who was really skilled in hand-to-hand fighting. And he progressed to the next –

Level Six: First Fighting Experience.

“What a joke!” Sehun scoffed, “He had his first fighting experience, like a day after he joined.”

Suho shrugged, “Well, we’ll still do this, just for formalities.”

 

And that was why the next time, some company tried burning down some tree, the Mayhem Gang was present, fighting all the spirits and giving some of their energy to Nature, hoping to calm her down. Their mission wasn’t all that hard, but all of them noticed a change –

“Something’s changing,” Kyungsoo voiced out, his hand implanted in the Earth, giving away his energy as compensation to the Earth. He looked up; his eyes pained, “She’s just not…stopping. She’s draining me.” His voice was gritted and Kai left the spirits as he ran back to Kyungsoo, who fainted. Chanyeol’s eyes widened as he felt the tremors underneath. The Earth was still very active but Kyungsoo was completely drained. This had never happened before.

“Chanyeol, watch out!” Sehun shouted and Chanyeol instinctively ducked, avoiding a tree-blade thrown his way by some of the spirits that Kai was fighting. He readied his sword and started killing them, hoping to cover a wider area – fighting tree spirits didn’t hurt the tree. Even after the spirit died, the tree would continue to grow and enjoy its life without any spirit hurting everybody who hurt the tree. Chanyeol was tiring out though. This was a big area and the spirits were angrier this time. Thankfully, he felt Baekhyun slide in next to him, daggers ready and in motion.

“Baekhyun,” He called out.

“Hmm?”

“What is happening?”

“What do-” Baekhyun paused as he ducked down and twisted, his daggers glinting dangerously, killing three spirits together, “you mean?” Chanyeol’s breath was lost. Baekhyun was just _that_ beautiful and amazing.

“The Earth,” He kicked a spirit back, before diving his sword into it, “It’s angrier.”

Baekhyun’s eyes darkened, “So you’ve noticed.” His daggers lit up and he did a flicking motion with his wrist, lighting up the area and killing every spirit that came in contact with his light.

“It’s hard not to.” Chanyeol summoned a ball of fire, killing the spirits that surrounded Kai, who was getting Kyungsoo to safety. Kai nodded at him thankfully.

“It’s the pollution,” Baekhyun grunted, diving his dagger into one spirit, pushing the spirit away and pulling his dagger out and then striking another spirit while using his other dagger to stab anybody that came near him. Chanyeol’s eyes glinted. Baekhyun was just perfect.

“The Earth is dying, thanks to humans that suck and thus it’s getting angrier,” Chanyeol summoned another fire ball, feeling a slight drain in his muscles, “Honestly, I don’t know until how long we can give our powers and energy to the Earth and pacify it. The attacks on nature and the attacks from nature are increasing rapidly. If humans don’t,” He shouted as many, many, endless spirits ganged up around them, summoning a big wave of light, vaporizing them all, “Stop then the world will end,” He paused, sighing loudly, tired and turned towards Chanyeol, “In any case, we’ll be the first ones to die.”

He summoned a shard of light and Chanyeol closed his eyes, knowing very well what was going to happen next. He felt Baekhyun stab the shard and the world lightened up, as spirits vaporized and the Earth calmed down.

Momentarily.

  


“Last night was…” Suho trailed off, looking at Baekhyun, who was resting along with Kyungsoo and Tao. All of them were in the infirmary. Many of them were injured and tired. It was the most tiring fight ever, “Dangerous.” Suho completed.

Baekhyun shook his head tiredly and Chanyeol grasped his hand, “I know our job is to keep the balance but…” He sighed, “The Government should know… the damage done to the Earth is out of control. We need to clean the oceans and plant some trees and cut down on the construction and…” He trailed off, words getting more and more hopeless.

Sehun nodded, “I kept fighting them, you know. Till the end,” Sehun was right. He was the only one who kept fighting the spirits continuously, without taking a break, “But…they just kept fighting back with whatever they had. I felt bad, you know. They were fighting hard for their rights and we just…”

They knew what he was going to say. There was no need to voice it out.

“We need to do something.” Chen said, with finality.

  


Luhan, Chen and Kai guided him through the next level the next day (since nobody was in a state to do anything yesterday, they all went home and Chanyeol studied hard for his upcoming exams) – Level Seven: Brains, Wisdom, Power, because Baekhyun, Suho, Xiumin and Lay had gone to warn the government and talk to them about the issue raised that night.

“The Seventh Level is one of the hardest,” Kai said, stopping right outside the room, “Here we understand more about the history of how it all came to be and how the powers reigned and were passed down. He will also enhance our brains by solving some riddles and learn sweet-talking – one of the most important thing. This level will teach us how to fight with our brains.” Kai looked up, to see three pairs of bored, done and given-up-on-life eyes looking up at him, “What?”

“You sound like our English professor.” Chanyeol muttered.

Kai frowned, moving his hands up to reveal a slip of paper, “That’s what Suho gave me to read to you!”

They all stared at each other before busting out in laughter.

“Now, that’s more probably.” Chanyeol said.

“He talks like an old man.” Luhan agreed.

“Don’t let him know I laughed, okay?” Kai hissed, before laughing once again.

And they had fun as they explored Level Seven.

  
  


“How did it go?” Kris and Tao asked simultaneously when the ‘we-went-to-the-government’ gang returned. Baekhyun shook his head and flopped on the couch in the cafeteria, next to Chanyeol, burying his face in the shoulder of the taller.

Xiumin and Lay followed suit, sitting tiredly while Suho took the head seat. Everybody silenced as they waited for Suho to start speaking. He didn’t.

“Is everything okay?” Kris said, sliding next to Suho, “What did they say?”

“They said they’ll so something.” Baekhyun stated suddenly.

Kyungsoo frowned, “Then that’s good right?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “I don’t know Kyungsoo… they seemed way too vague and elections are coming up soon.” He paused, and his next words made him seem really small, “I don’t think they’ll risk public support by implementing strict laws.”

Chanyeol frowned, “The election is five months away, so you’re telling me they’ll be inactive for five months?”

The others frowned, as they struggled to understand but then Suho said, grimly, “Considering the rising magnitude of the attacks by both the sides, we,” He paused, looking at everyone, “May _not_ have enough power to balance it all and it is worsening every day – the condition of the Earth. Five months is… too much.”

Silence filled the room as the severity of the situation sank in.

“That’s not all,” Lay said, turning all the heads towards him, “The human body is really fast at adapting to things and…” He paused, as if preparing himself mentally for his next words. The tension in the room heightened as everybody held their breaths, “I went to the Centre responsible for spreading that gas every night and they have noticed that the resistance is getting stronger and that most people are sleeping now for the sake of sleeping and not because of the gas.”

There were gasps and people stuttered into speech when Lay continued –

“So, if the gas isn’t working then the Earth will have its prey right on the streets and that could lead to more imbalance and we might even get disturbed during fighting and not be able to continue…” His voice trailed off. It might not seem like a dangerous thing but Chanyeol understood how severe it was. Many times people survived because they were asleep, there wasn’t mass panic because people didn’t know, Chanyeol felt comfortable fighting knowing that nobody except these twelve people would know about him, he felt comfortable jumping in and out of houses while fighting, knowing nobody was awake and he couldn’t hurt anyone – awake and stupid people meant bad news and he didn’t want to deal with that.

“So, what can be done?” Sehun whispered, looking around at all of them. But nobody answered.

“We should just… try to keep everything at bay until the government actually _… does_ something, you know,” Kai said, trying to sound optimistic and funny but failing miserably as his voice delved into silence.

  
  


“Level Eight: Different Types of Hunt,” Baekhyun said with a smile, guiding Chanyeol into a room, with black tiled walls and an array of computers on one side, with disk antennas and graphs. Tao was sitting on one chair. He grinned at Baekhyun and Chanyeol –

“Yo, I’m just going out.” He said, winking at Chanyeol and slipping past leaving a flustered and red Chanyeol. Tao had managed to find out about his crush on Baekhyun, thanks to one drunk night of ranting to each other.

Baekhyun eyed the exchange closely and he coughed, drawing Chanyeol’s attention towards him, “So, there are different types of hunts that you are going to attempt. Solo, Group, Solo with communication and Duo,” He continued to list out, blatantly. Chanyeol frowned at his blunt tone.

“Tomorrow, we are going out on a hunt, so you can take that as your group hunt. And you can go on two hunts by your own – that would be your solo and solo with communication. In -”

“Whoa, whoa,” Chanyeol spread his arms out, stopping Baekhyun mid-speech, “Slow down there.”

Baekhyun stared hard at him.

Chanyeol sighed, “Are you okay? You seem… angry.”

“Oh, I do? But I’m not! Are you sure your eyes are fine?” Baekhyun demanded, crossing his arms and sounding very, very dangerously angry. But Baekhyun obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Chanyeol could only hope that this anger wasn’t directed at him.

“Okay, no need to be so rude,” He said, his hands pulling at his ears – a habit that he had long forgotten. He saw Baekhyun’s eyes soften momentarily and fill with guilt before they hardened once more in an angry scowl and Baekhyun continued speaking –

“In solo with communication, you’re required to use coding that you learnt in the last level and keep us updated about your progress.” He paused, continuing when Chanyeol nodded, “The last one is Duo,” His voice hardened, “Duo hunts are usually longer than a day – like the hunts that Kai and Kyungsoo go on,” Chanyeol nodded again. He knew Kai and Kyungsoo went on hunts that were like two days long (Kai had told him that they didn’t only _hunt._ He didn’t want to know about it)

Baekhyun looked at him; angrily and said, “Tao and you’ve had had sleepovers too. You can go with him. He should be free.”

Chanyeol was taken aback, “Wait you aren’t?”

Baekhyun smiled at him – with venom, “Aren’t _what_?” He all but shouted and Chanyeol flinched back. Baekhyun just averted his eyes and whispered, “Aren’t what?”

Chanyeol gulped, “Free…”

Baekhyun blinked, “And why would my being free matter?”

Chanyeol sighed. He didn’t understand why Baekhyun was being so confusing, unlike his usual self and Chanyeol wasn’t brave enough to voice out what he wanted. It was… awkward.

“Answer me,” Baekhyun commanded and Chanyeol gave in.

“Why aren’t you going with me?” He demanded, but his voice was already frail. He had never demanded anything from Baekhyun. He didn’t think he _could._ Baekhyun was way out of his class…but he had promised. And Chanyeol just wanted Baekhyun.

Baekhyun seemed to be taken aback by his question, “What do you – because Tao and you are close. So, you should go with him!”

The sentence registered in Chanyeol’s mind in the wrong way. He had known it – known that he didn’t mean a lot to Baekhyun, but it still hurt. It hurt so much that his eyes started watering. He immediately bent his head down.

“Chanyeol…?” Baekhyun prodded. He was feeling uneasy. He bent down and saw Chanyeol crying and his eyes widened, “Oh! – why – why are you crying?” He asked, knowing very well that it had something to do with him. He looked around, not knowing what to do in this situation. So, just by instinct, he went and locked the door and took Chanyeol’s big hand into his small ones.

“Come,” He commanded, “Come with me.” He lead the taller to the couch placed on the other side of the room and made him sit against the hand-hold, facing Baekhyun. With one hand, he lifted Chanyeol’s chin up –

“Now, tell me. What is it?” He asked, but Chanyeol continued to cry softly, hiding his face behind one sleeve. This gigantic man was too soft for him, with his twisted and bitter insides, “Chanyeol. _Chanyeol._ Please… just look – look at me!” His voice cracked and he cursed himself for being so weak in front of Chanyeol. Even when the taller needed support, he let him down. But the sight of Chanyeol’s red nose and teary cheeks was enough to make him break down. He didn’t want to see Chanyeol sad and it was his damn fault that he was crying.

The Prince of Fire obliged, looking at him. His soft, big eyes were red and sad and his cheeks were wet. His ears seemed to point downwards too,

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun apologized sincerely, “Tell me what I can do to fix the situation.” He said and he waited but Chanyeol just shook his head and when Baekhyun thought he was going to start crying once again, the taller said –

“Come – come with me.” Chanyeol’s voice was on the verge of breaking; shaky but yet firm. Baekhyun frowned.

“Where?”

“D-Duo with me!” Chanyeol shouted out, breaking into sobs once more and Baekhyun reached forward to cradle his head. Chanyeol continued, “I know – I know I don’t mean a lot to you-”

“Chanyeol, that’s not-” Baekhyun said hurriedly but Chanyeol looked up and the sight of his red eyes and broken-self caused him to stop.

“I know you probably don’t even like me that much, but,” He took a deep breath, “I like you. I like spending time with you and I think… I think we’re close.” He looked like he wanted to say more but decided against it and slumped against Baekhyun’s chest, his breath coming out in short puffs.

“First of all,” Baekhyun started, “You mean _a lot_ to me Chanyeol. You’re the only one I can talk about my feelings to. Second, I…like you too,” He paused before continuing, “And I think we’re close too. I just thought that-” Baekhyun had no idea how to phrase it. He kind of wanted to lie and make himself look good but when he saw Chanyeol looking at him so intently, he couldn’t do it.

So he sighed and prepared himself for what was to follow next and said, “I thought you and Tao were, uh – like, dating,” He looked straight up because he didn’t have to look down to know that Chanyeol was stunned, “So, I thought that…yeah.” He huffed a breath out and finished, still not looking at Chanyeol, but then a rough hand pulled his chin down and Chanyeol was looking at him; straight into the eyes and Baekhyun was panicking. The sweat on his nape was fresh and the blush on his face was just…plain annoying.

“So, you’re telling you were jealous, so you flipped out on me?” Chanyeol said, summing it up very well (but he couldn’t know that!) and looking at him with his eyebrows raised. Baekhyun had never felt this judged before. He didn’t say anything.

“Am I right or am I right?” Chanyeol said, sitting up to his whole length, way taller than Baekhyun.

“You are -!” He started to say ‘wrong’ but then he realized Chanyeol didn’t offer him that option. He flushed deeply. He wanted to look away so, ah, so bad but Chanyeol’s grip on his chin was firm. Chanyeol smirked and Baekhyun wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to embarrass himself further. He sighed and closed his eyes – if he stared at the smirk any longer, he might give in. Give in to what? He didn’t know but too much Chanyeol was bad for his mental and emotional health.

Of course, Chanyeol didn’t give a fuck about that.

He pulled the Emperor of Light into his lap and let’s be honest, Baekhyun didn’t fight back at all. He allowed himself to be pulled back to home, where everything was Chanyeol. He took in a deep breath – Chanyeol smelt so much like smoke, even though he didn’t smoke. Baekhyun figured it had to do something with him controlling fire and all. Chanyeol’s rough hands encased his soft cheeks. And Baekhyun found himself giving in so badly – giving in to Chanyeol, giving up his control. He just wanted Chanyeol.

Their bodies pressed against each other as Baekhyun’s heartbeat raced up and as, his hands travelled on Chanyeol’s chest, he realized he wasn’t the only one. He yearned for the feelings of lips against his. He wondered if Chanyeol’s lips were soft, or if they were rough. The hands pulled him closer and Baekhyun’s mouth opened of its own accord. He was giving in. His heat intermixed with Chanyeol’s as they finally met and impatient lips tasted each other –

“HEY! Who is inside? OPEN THE DOOR!” Baekhyun opened his eyes jumped away and Chanyeol groaned.

“Not again…” The taller whined and Baekhyun couldn’t agree more. He was tired of getting disturbed right when he was about to kiss Chanyeol which brought them to important matters – Baekhyun  looked at Chanyeol, who just happened to look at him at the same moment. They stared at each-other for a moment before red flushed through their veins.

Baekhyun felt like he was hyperventilating, “Shit.” He got up and ran towards the door, opening it to see Jongdae. It figured, because nobody in their right mind would shout so loud.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought it was some spirit,” Jongdae said, before frowning, “Are you okay? You seem red.”

 _Shit, Jongdae, he didn’t want to be told that at_ that _moment._

Baekhyun gave him a fake smile and said something along the lines of ‘I’m fine’ and ran out of that room. Needless to say, he was never going to stay in one room with Park Chanyeol _ever_ again.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Chapter 9

# Chapter 9

 

Chanyeol was confused.

Baekhyun told him he liked him – but was it romantic or platonic? Chanyeol told Baekhyun that he liked him – was that platonic or romantic? Because, he himself didn’t know. He liked Baekhyun, liked him a lot, would do anything for him – he knew he would so there was no point hiding this. One rude word from Baekhyun could make him cry. And Chanyeol didn’t cry, like ever. He wasn’t one to cry. The other confusing thing was the messed up state of Nature.

Chanyeol felt it as he fought, side to side with his team. The Tree of Life was messed up. No matter how much energy they gave it, it continued to die. And the spirits continued to fight, as if it was the only thing they knew.

“Chanyeol!” Sehun shouted and Chanyeol looked at the younger surrounded by a huge numbers of spirits, “Help me!”

Chanyeol stabbed his sword into the ground, summoning the greatest waves of fire ever summoned. They spread out throughout the area. The spirits recoiled and vaporized but of them some jumped near Suho to protect themselves in the water. Others jumped up and down but somehow managed to stay alive; marching towards Sehun, with determination. Chanyeol collapsed on the ground as his world blackened.

  


His eyes blinked open and he realized he was in the familiar white infirmary. He sighed and looked around, seeing who else was injured. He saw Sehun – or Sehun’s feet, to be exact, laying on the bed opposite his feet, his blanket pulled up to his chin. He probably wasn’t able to defend himself from the army of spirits. He tried getting up but a hand placed on his chest stopped him.

“Hush, don’t move.” Baekhyun’s familiar voice said. Chanyeol turned his head to see Baekhyun slowly sliding towards him from the next bed. His lips turned up immediately.

“Got injured too, huh?” He mused, shifting to make space for Baekhyun. They didn’t feel the awkwardness from yesterday – probably because they were both tired, injured and on medicines. Whatever the case was, Chanyeol didn’t complain. He instead relished in the feel of having Baekhyun close to him.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he pressed up against Chanyeol, “Well somebody had to save your ass after both Sehun and you decided to pass out.”

Chanyeol chuckled, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun and tucking the boy in his chest, “I apologize to you, Emperor of Light.”

“Apology accepted, King of Fire.” Chanyeol pulled back to stare at him.

“King?” He asked, and Baekhyun nodded, tangling his fingers with Chanyeol’s.

“The thing you did back there had you promoted.” He smiled and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile too, because it was just _that_ contagious.

Baekhyun made him happy.

  
  


“Building 23J is safe, all house-mates are sleeping. The few spirits that were there are killed and I already sent for the Dream Sequence.” Chanyeol summed up, thinking through his entire mission once again and then nodding, “Yep, that’s it. Mission Complete.”

“All right,” He heard Baekhyun’s voice speak earpiece, “Reach back to the base as soon as possible.”

Chanyeol replied in the positive and hurried out of the area towards his car, sitting in swiftly and turning the ignition on as he drove out of the apartment complex –

“And Chanyeol?” Baekhyun’s voice called out.

“Mhmm?”

“Congratulations.” He could hear Baekhyun’s smile through the words, so he smiled too. After all, it was contagious.

“Thanks,” He whispered softly, driving in the night, back home to Baekhyun.

  
  
  


“So, only duo left for you,” Sehun said, eating a loaf of bread. The dancer ate a lot but he never seemed to fatten a bit, which was something that annoyed Chanyeol to no end.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol replied, reaching forward the fat-free meals.

“Chanyeol’s rate of completing the levels is probably the fastest among us all,” Xiumin mused and when Baekhyun started saying something, he stopped him, “Oh, no don’t say it’s because he learned from the best. You trained many other people – like Sehun, who’s barely completed Level Nine.”

Sehun choked on his bread, “Hey!”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Well, in my defense, Sehun _is_ a little thick.”

“Hey!” Sehun said again, throwing the cover of his bread at Baekhyun, which the latter easily dodged.

And all of them kept laughing and joking until bed-time, when they finally bid each other goodnight and went to sleep. As the clock ticked, Chanyeol could hear Jongdae’s loud snoring from the room next to his. All of them were sound asleep. Needless to say, Chanyeol wasn’t one of them.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the following day, when Baekhyun would accompany Chanyeol on a hunt. They would go together to South, towards the woods and beach where there were reported cases of many spirits going wild. They would stay together for three days on the trip. This timing was perfect because it was spring and Chanyeol’s school was over (he had already given his final tests and applied to many colleges. Baekhyun had too) so he didn’t have to worry about missing school. He could enjoy the trip but he couldn’t help but be worried, because it was Baekhyun after all.

And Baekhyun meant a great deal to him. He kinda wanted everything to be perfect – as perfect as it can get on a bloody hunt. These thoughts lingered in his mind until late, but soon he was relieved from this as sleep found his wandering soul.

  


“You’ve checked everything, right?” Baekhyun turned back, making sure that Chanyeol had all his luggage piled in the back of the car.

Chanyeol smiled at him, “Yep.” It was a bright, sunny day and even though, Chanyeol hadn’t slept properly the night before, he felt refreshed. New blood was pounding underneath his skin as a pure and fresh smile lay on his face. (The happy mood probably also had to do with the fact that Baekhyun looked really nice wearing that light yellow shirt and blue jeans as if he was dressed for the summer).

Baekhyun returned his smile, looking Chanyeol up and down before settling on his eyes, “You look nice.”

Chanyeol blushed like a teenage, hormonal boy (which he was).Chanyeol was wearing a plain white buttoned up shirt with black pants. It wasn’t anything special, but it sure felt nice to be complimented.

“And you look beautiful, all bright and cute.” Chanyeol said, making Baekhyun blush deeper that he did. He smiled immediately. There, Chanyeol one, Baekhyun zero.

They got in the car, Chanyeol at the driver’s seat and started their journey out. And as the strong wind blew against Chanyeol’s face as the car purred, and the soft music from Chanyeol’s Spotify playlist filled the air, and Baekhyun’s smile got wider and more beautiful and blinding with every passing second and as his fluffy hair flew around in the wind and eyes glinted with happiness and as Baekhyun’s soft, pretty and beautiful hand grabbed Chanyeol’s free one, the King of Fire realized –

He was sort of in love with someone, who was a little too cute and beautiful.

  
  


The car drive was smooth, with only a few deters by some aimless, angry tree spirits that Baekhyun had fun slicing into half. The huge grey highway spread out in front of them as the high sun shone its blinding light on all of them. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Chanyeol realized that the sun was too bright for spring and that the world was dying slowly and slowly. But that fact in itself was so hard to register when Baekhyun, in his yellow and bright shirt, was leaning his head out of the window slightly, enjoying the wind and singing loudly to every song that was playing while holding Chanyeol’s hand so tightly – it was hard to realize that the world was ending when his world was very much alive.

Baekhyun noticed Chanyeol staring intently at him and not the road, so he turned towards the taller, a constant smile on his face.

“What’s up?” He asked casually, giggling right after at how weird it sounded. And Chanyeol’s heart bloomed at the sound.

He shook his head, not able to smile the huge smile on his face and turned his attention towards the road, “Nothing.”

Baekhyun squeezed his hand a little tighter and when Chanyeol turned to look at him, he almost burst out laughing because Baekhyun was pouting, his bottom lip jutted out and eyes blinking heavily –

“What is it?” He asked, a chuckle in his voice.

Baekhyun looked up at him, at the handsome man who was smiling like there was no tomorrow and his pout slipped away for a moment, giving way to a huge smile, before he forced his eyes to look back down and the pout to reform on his face. Chanyeol laughed loudly at that. He slipped his hand out of Baekhyun’s hand to pinch his cheek –

“Aw, you’re so cute,” He retreated his hand, changing gears before Baekhyun held it again, blushing profoundly when Chanyeol clicked his tongue, “Adorable.”

Baekhyun just blushed more and started looking out of the window as they entered into some city. He didn’t like it when people called him ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ and he hated endearments but somehow, he didn’t mind it at all when Chanyeol used them. He loved it when Chanyeol complimented him, called him cute or adorable or paid attention to him. Only Chanyeol though. He continued looking out of the window when he noticed something that caught his eye. He tugged at Chanyeol’s hand.

“Hmm,” The taller said, letting Baekhyun know he had his attention but the shorter continued to tug, causing Chanyeol to turn around and look at him, “Yes?”

Baekhyun just pointed outside the window and then turned back to look at Chanyeol and then, looking a thousand times cuter than he always did, he said –

“Ice-cream.”

  
  


Now, when the person that you love and want asks you for something, you don’t refuse. And that was why, Chanyeol didn’t refuse. Instead he pulled the car onto another lane and parked the car in the parking area. He got out from his door, moving to open Baekhyun’s door but the latter had already opened it and walked towards the shop.

“Park Chanyeol!” The shorter shouted from the entrance of the shop, “Hurry up!”

Chanyeol smiled as he shook his head, “Coming!”

 

They got Baekhyun, a Strawberry Fruit Popsicle and Chanyeol, a Belgian Chocolate cup. Somehow that said a lot about them. After paying for their ice-creams, they sat on one of the booths and started eating their respective ice-creams when Chanyeol realized he didn’t really know a lot about their plans.

“So, what are we going to do here?” He asked.

Baekhyun smirked, “Glad you asked.”

 

For the next fifteen minutes, Baekhyun kept speaking while simultaneously marking out important places on a map and writing some notes in his scribble-notebook.

“The temperature tonight should be about thirty-seven degrees Celsius or higher, so it’s safe to say that Earth tonight will have us face some of her demons. Considering the altitude of the place-” He looked up when he saw Chanyeol dozing off. He frowned and hit the tip of Chanyeol’s nose with his ball-pen, “Hey – hey Park!” He said loudly with frustration. Chanyeol finally looked up. He wasn’t sleeping. He was just bored.

“Are you even listening?” Baekhyun demanded. Chanyeol nodded and looked at him, before sighing out loud.

“What happened to you? You were so Baekhyunnie a few minutes ago – all cute and asking for ice-cream and now, you’re the Emperor of Light.” He shook his head, slumping on the table, looking dejected.

Baekhyun hid a soft smile behind his sassy and imprudent demeanor as he said, “Well, I _am_ The Emperor of Light and I am Byun Baekhyun. I need to balance both of them now, don’t I?”

Chanyeol lifted his head up and his eyes were soft and admiring in a way that made Baekhyun’s breath hitch because _that_ look was meant for _him_ and only _him_.

“You’re really… a person I look up to. I respect you a lot.” Chanyeol said with earnest. And it reminded Baekhyun of this thing his mother used to say – _Fall in love with someone who respects you and someone whom you can respect_. Baekhyun’s mother was a box of wisdom. He smiled.

“Thank you,” He said, before continuing on with his plan. Chanyeol listened to him intently this time, taking note of every word carefully and clarifying his doubts whenever he didn’t understand something. It reminded Baekhyun of something else his mother had said about respect – _The most respected person isn’t the smartest or the strongest. It is the one who listens, understands and respects what others say._

Baekhyun really respected Chanyeol a lot.

 

As they walked out, Baekhyun noticed something.

The heat.

It prickled on his skin and made him thirsty immediately. The sun’s rays were very strong, filling the day with some sort of summer haze that made his mind unclear.

“Um, Baekhyunnie?” Baekhyun turned to his side, to see Chanyeol shielding himself from the scorching heat with one hand, “I think it is way hotter than we predicted.”

Baekhyun nodded, checking his phone to see the temperature – Forty-one degree Celsius. He put his phone back into his pocket, obviously displeased. This weather meant bad news. It was a known fact that if the temperature got too high, Mother Earth would be angry.

“Let’s just go,” He decided. After all, there wasn’t much he could do about this situation. They walked through some grass patches towards the parking lot when Baekhyun tripped over something. He would have fallen face-first on the ground if Chanyeol hadn’t grabbed his arm and steadied him.

“Whoa, there. Careful,” Chanyeol said, looking down at what had Baekhyun tripped over and his eyes widened in alert. Baekhyun frowned before darting his eyes to the ground too and he saw an almost dead grass spirit cling to his leg. The small thing had thorns, like a porcupine, which Baekhyun later realized was dried grass blades. The grass spirit shrieked angrily and hissed in an unknown language but its words registered in Baekhyun’s mind as clear as glass –

 _‘You worthless creatures have made my land a dying desert! Die!’_ The way that every word was spat out with disgust made Baekhyun’s skin tingle. After many years, Baekhyun was: scared. He was scared because this was a dying grass that still fought him and Baekhyun knew that when people, or things, stood united with such strong determination, nothing could stop them. He shivered under the hot sun. Chanyeol leaned down and conjured a small flame that swallowed the grass-blade up. When the flames subsided, all that was left of the grass spirit was some ash that flew away when Chanyeol kicked it. The spirit was gone but its words repeated and re-repeated continuously in Baekhyun’s mind. He was scared.

Baekhyun had known that this battle that he fought every day and every night with every breath – this battle of balancing the earth would only serve as temporary relief because he knew that what came from the Earth, returned to the Earth and him, being a human child, was also born from the dust that the grass spirit vanished into. He knew the only balance that could be provided was Nature itself and that human or super-human attempts at pacifying the balance of nature would serve futile but he still tried to save lives. But a mere of twelve people fighting for the population of billions – it was absurd to imagine that they would succeed! But he tried, even though he knew it would all be useless at some point. It’s just that the point he had always dreaded wasn’t so close to him ever before. He felt like crying because of this frustration. Why couldn’t people just take care of their surroundings and their planet? Why was it so hard?

A hand grasped his arm and a soft, deep voice called out his name, with utmost care.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol bent to be at eye-level with Baekhyun, “Are you okay?”

Baekhyun wasn’t. Chanyeol knew that. The shorter closed his eyes and hugged Chanyeol, giving him a fleeting feeling of ecstasy that he wanted to feel forever. Baekhyun was strong, amazing, respected and respectful – it just happened that he fit against Chanyeol’s frame perfectly too. Chanyeol planted a small kiss on the head of the shorter before grabbing his hand and leading him to the car. They didn’t speak any words, just drove away in silence.

  


The place they were staying in was small – a wooden cabin, with one room, one kitchen and one bathroom. It was somewhere near the beach and opposite the woods. It was a nice place for hunting. Chanyeol put his suitcase on the floor, while looking around.

“So,” He said, looking at Baekhyun who was smiling at the comfortable house, “It’s your kind of place.”

Baekhyun looked at him, “I love it.”

Chanyeol smiled at that sudden confession. Everything homey was everything Baekhyun loved. And honestly, he didn’t mind it one bit. How could he when the shorter was going around the house, checking everything and behaving like an excited and cute puppy?

 

The sun had already set when they arrived at their destination, and the sky outside only darkened more. They had decided to go hunt the next morning, so they were free to sleep that night. Chanyeol was sort of apprehensive about the single bed but Baekhyun gave no damns. He came out of the bathroom after taking a shower, dressed in a pink loose t-shirt and white pajamas and jumped on the bed right away –

“Hurry up, Park!” He said, rolling around the bed. Chanyeol couldn’t help but blush. Why would Baekhyun want him to hurry to the bed? What was he planning?

Baekhyun rolled around a bit more before registering Chanyeol’s expression and stopping. He rolled his eyes, leaning on his elbows, “Oh, come one! It’s not like I’m gonna corrupt you.” He leaned back to the back-rest of the bed, giving him _that_ wicked smile which said very clearly – ‘I am gonna corrupt you.’

Chanyeol decided to be brave though. He was already dressed up in his PJs. He walked over the bed and slept on the left side, making sure to leave a lot of _safe_ distance in between himself and Baekhyun. Too much proximity wouldn’t be good for him. Baekhyun, however, was not on the same page. He shifted until he was spooning Chanyeol and cradling his head.

Which was _not_ good for Chanyeol’s health.

Not when their shirts were so thin and the heat from Baekhyun’s skin oozed right into Chanyeol’s. Not when the breath Baekhyun breathed out was the same breath Chanyeol breathed in. Not when the little arms around his neck were so pretty and all he wanted to do was ravish and love. Not when he was having thoughts he shouldn’t be happening in the night.

But it all lead to one thing.

Two people, maybe sort of love, on one bed, in some distant area where nobody would hear them, lying close –

Chanyeol blushed hotly. He felt _uncomfortably_ hot and _every freaking thought_ led him to the same image that he _didn’t_ want to think about.

“ _Chanyeollie_ ~” Baekhyun purred from behind him and the sound went straight to his you-know-what. _What was Baekhyun doing to him?_ “Cuddle me.”

And he didn’t know which stupid, insane part of his brain actually heeded this command and turned around. Baekhyun just gave him a wicked smile – that fucker clearly knew. Chanyeol flicked his cheek and he pouted softly, which was just… not good for Chanyeol’s heart.

“You’re evil.” Chanyeol said.

“I literally kill spirits Chanyeol and deal with death. Of course, I am evil.” Baekhyun said seriously, but the teasing look in his eyes remained.

Chanyeol wasn’t even conscious of the fact that he had started pouting slightly, “No, you’re being evil right now. To me!” He huffed.

Baekhyun just smiled disarmingly and proceeded to kiss the tip of Chanyeol’s nose, which made him blush again, while Baekhyun leaned back, “Now, cuddle me and sleep!”

Chanyeol huffed. Baekhyun was too…much. Too cute. Too smart. Too brave. Too amazing. But somehow he was just enough. He looked at the older with affectionate eyes before kissing the top of his head – a habit that he had gained; a good habit – before pulling him into his chest (another good habit) and switching the lights off before closing his eyes and sleeping peacefully.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now it begins...

# Chapter 10

 

 _Peace,_ Mother Nature said, _is a spur of a moment._

Chanyeol’s eyes opened to many things – inhuman whispers, a rocking bed, writhing Baekhyun - but most prominent of all of them was The Tree of Life. Chanyeol’s sleepiness dissipated as he took in the purple, glowing image, except it wasn’t glowing. Every branch was bent in defeat and the roots were crawling out. The powers weren’t shining like they usually did. Instead, they were dim lights like fireflies on the massive tree.

Chanyeol sat up. Beside him, Baekhyun did too. The older took considerably less time to understand and analyze the situation. Chanyeol turned his head to look at him. Baekhyun’s eyes were wide with panic and alarm. He looked at Chanyeol with dead seriousness and said –

“We need to go, now!” Chanyeol was struck with how familiar the words were to one of the first words that Baekhyun had spoken to him, on one eventful night. That seemed like centuries ago. But this time, he realized the danger – if they didn’t leave, there was also a slight chance of this house toppling over because it was shaking violently. Chanyeol nodded and hurried over to the dresser, taking out his weapons. Baekhyun hurried to bathroom as Chanyeol loaded the weapons in their car. When Baekhyun came out, he was wearing clothes similar to the ones he had worn when he first met Chanyeol – black leather jacket, jeans and boots. Chanyeol knew the clothes had lots of spaces to keep hidden weapons in them. Just like his did. Chanyeol dressed up too, and at once they were in the car and out of the area.

Baekhyun’s first attack came seconds after they left. He conjured a big, light bolt in one swift movement and threw it out of the window. The shaking of the Earth seemed to lessen for a few moments. This gained time was enough for Chanyeol to drive out of the woods and into the city, where the center seemed to be. It was useless to ask them how they knew all of this – it was just plain instincts.

“Drive faster!” Baekhyun shouted and Chanyeol’s foot slammed the accelerator as they sped into the city at one hundred-ninety kilometers per hour and only rising. There wasn’t anybody awake and on the roads anyway, so it was okay.

_Oh, how wrong they were._

A squad of boys and girls appeared in the road at once. Chanyeol’s eyes widened and he was vaguely aware of Baekhyun shouting “BRAKE!!” before he put the break and the car skidded and turned once, twice and then, thrice before coming to a stop. Chanyeol was paralyzed. His breaths were heavy. Bile rose up his throat and he swallowed it down. The boys and girls just shouted at him –

“Drive safe, mister!” and went their way.

Chanyeol tried to calm his breathing down when something stuck his mind. He turned to his right to Baekhyun grasping the seatbelt like it was his life and breathing quite heavily. He didn’t seem much better than Chanyeol.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asked anyway and Baekhyun nodded. His eyes trailed the children.

“There couldn’t be that many people who are…” Suddenly, another man crossed the road and ran, screaming ‘Earthquake! Big, big Earthquake!’ and then, it registered in their minds. Chanyeol was reminded of a down-putting conversation that all of them had once and Lay’s voice rang clear through this mind. _The human body is really fast at adapting to things…_ _the resistance is getting stronger and that most people are sleeping now for the sake of sleeping and not because of the gas._ Chanyeol’s mind refused to register this. He shook this head. No, this can’t be happening. Not now, not ever.

He looked at Baekhyun, who seemed to be thinking the same things. His eyes were blown-wide and his breaths were ragged. When he looked at Chanyeol, the taller noticed the pain and the pure _fear_ in his eyes.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun breathed and then he gulped, before raising a shaking hand to the inbuilt phone in the car, “Call the base.”

 

The conversation with base wasn’t pleasant at all. Suho’s and Lay’s grim voice on par with Chanyeol’s terrified voice made a very scary conversation.

“The people…they…walking around,” Chanyeol said, eyeing a boy as he ran towards his parents, crying because of the continuous shaking of the Earth, “What – they will see us fight, if we did.”

“You have to,” Suho’s grim voice said, “You have to fight.”

“But…”

“Chanyeol, Baekhyun, listen to me,” Lay’s voice pleaded on the intercom, “You _have_ to fight. It will get much worse if you don’t. Secure the area. We’ll send human enforcements. They will arrive but… you have to keep everything under control and maintain a balance. Remember – that’s our job. Balance.” He breathed out, as if the word meant everything and for them it did.

All they did was aid the balance.

“And Baekhyun?” Suho’s voice sounded, “You’re stronger than ever. You know what to do. Don’t be scared of doing it.”

Baekhyun’s eyes – which were hazed – suddenly cleared, “Yes, I know. I’ll do my best.” His voice was really soft and for the first time, Chanyeol understood why Baekhyun wasn’t the leader of the base. Not that Suho wasn’t competent, but Baekhyun was abnormally good at what he did. He had wondered and only, now did he understand. It was because there was something haunting him, something that always pulled him back. It was the something that caused him to be panicking now, when he had dealt with much worse. That something that Baekhyun just couldn’t get over – that something that led him to crave reassurance that Suho was always there to provide him.

And Chanyeol sort of realized that Suho knew what that ‘something’ was.

From the way he looked at Baekhyun worriedly while talking about some issues to the talks that they had which nobody could understand – Suho knew. He was so careful around Baekhyun, because underneath that ‘Emperor of Light’ was a soon-to-be nineteen year old boy with a dark trigger.

That Chanyeol wanted to know.

The call disconnected and Chanyeol drove to the city. He was still scared but he wasn’t running away anytime soon. Looking at Baekhyun, whose eyes moved around the area quickly, evaluating everything, he realized that _they_ weren’t running away anytime soon.

  


The center was in utter chaos. It was a central park area – where the nature’s attack had begun. The buildings around were on the verge of breaking and the spirits were lurking around. Chanyeol realized that few people had already died. This realization broke him as much as it ignited him. Fire trembled underneath his skin in angry waves. His attention first snapped to the crowd that had gathered around the spirits and the places where people had died.

“Chanyeol, take care of the crowd for now,” Baekhyun said. His head was tilting down as if he was scared of doing this but public but his eyes were hard.

Chanyeol nodded, and putting beside his social-trauma, he strode confidently towards the crowd, which had their cameras filming all of these and taking selfies. The taller couldn’t help but roll his eyes. So stupid and so naïve. If only people spent the time they wasted on decorating their social media feeds on doing something productive, the world wouldn’t have come to this. If only they used that social media was spreading awareness about the issues that will end humanity, the Earth would have been more alive than dead. The brimming population of the Earth didn’t change the fact that the planet was dying.

And Chanyeol wanted to shout it all out.

But he knew they’d just laugh at him. Why? Because it wasn’t cool to save nature.

“Everybody! Step back NOW!” He shouted as the crowd just looked at him, “These figures aren’t around to joke. They could kill you and hurt you! Step back, run away, evacuate NOW!”

Some of the crowd dissipated but of course, some of the stupid ones stayed commenting and tapping their phones and laughing among themselves. He felt frustrated. The Earth was still shaking. How to even save these ignorant asses?

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun shouted, “Cover me!”

Chanyeol immediately turned away from the crowd and ran over to Baekhyun, who was surrounded by a huge circle of spirits. Chanyeol willed his fire to come to life and with one shout, a ring of fire appeared around Baekhyun, killing every spirit before dying out.

The giggling behind him suddenly stopped.

Chanyeol smirked as the King of Fire part of him came to life. He raised his sword and marched towards the seemingly endless army of spirits, slicing them, summoning fire and causing mass mayhem. This time when he shouted at the people to clear out, they did. It’s funny what controlling fire and having a scary sword could do to your social stature.

The few people who remained ran for their lives when Baekhyun summoned the biggest shard of light ever – it was bigger than a tree. Chanyeol turned around to look at him – take in how beautiful, powerful and regal he looked while holding that shard, his face lit up by his own light. And with a delicate move of his wrist, the shard was out of his hands and into the Earth stopping the Earthquake at once. The people screamed as they ran around the city, but Chanyeol didn’t care much. All he could see was Baekhyun – Baekhyun who collapsed on his feet, his legs giving out and falling on his knees.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol shouted while running over to the Emperor of Light – the God of Light at this point – the Legend of Light because he had managed to momentarily stop the biggest Earthquake ever all by himself and killing so many spirits.

Baekhyun’s face was sweaty and his eyes were closed. Chanyeol cradled his face and rubbed his hand on his back, wishing for Lay to appear out of thin air. It something happened to Baekhyun… no, he didn’t want to think about it.

Suddenly, Baekhyun coughed weakly and Chanyeol’s attention was again solely focused on Baekhyun.

“C-chanyeol?” The other said weakly, his breath ragged and temperature higher than normal as he went through the after-shock of summoning his power.

“Yes. I’m here. Don’t worry,” Chanyeol said, although he knew it was a very worrying matter. If Baekhyun wasn’t fighting with him in this battle, they would lost. Chanyeol wasn’t strong enough yet.

“I – I’m okay, just… water.” Chanyeol reached around his jacket and grabbed the small, water bottle he carried and put it to Baekhyun’s lips,

“Drink.” He commanded softly and Baekhyun followed. By the time he was finished, he looked a little better. He opened his eyes and Chanyeol wanted to cry because they looked so tired, so exhausted but he had no time and he couldn’t give up. The fight was still going on. It was obvious in the way the Earth started shaking again and the other spirits started to move their way.

“Let’s go.” Baekhyun said, getting up. He stumbled a little but steadied himself quickly, “Let’s not give up until the end, right Chanyeol-ah?”

Chanyeol smiled. He wanted to cry.

“Let’s not.”

  


It was the worse fight Chanyeol had ever fought. None of his previous fights compared to this one. His body moved of its own accord. His sword sliced through the spirits that didn’t die easily. In the past, even just hitting them had killed them. No he had to look for crooks in their wooden armor. The bodies of these spirits had hardened in the heat – they weren’t going to give up now. Chanyeol wasn’t going to give up too so it caused them to engage in the most dangerous battle ever. He remembered what Baekhyun had told him after he had completed level Five –

“ _Now, you’ve learnt all the basic component of every fight, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun had said, ticking all the basic components off his list, “But the strongest weapon isn’t your power, your weapon or your skills.”_

_Chanyeol frowned at that. Baekhyun continued -_

_“It is passion,” He said after a pause, “It’s_ you _– if you think you’re going to lose,” He shrugged helplessly, looking right at Chanyeol, “Maybe you’ve already lost.”_

His words burnt right through Chanyeol as he groaned loudly before stabbing another spirit, right under the collarbone, watching her dissipate in dust before calling for his fire once again and summoning two fiery rows that injured many spirits. But they kept coming for him. He stabbed, he slashed, he rolled, he jumped, he summoned fiery waves and balls – his body going into autopilot, and more than that – he believed. He believed he would win.

And looking at Baekhyun, just meters apart from him, diving his double-daggers into the wooden flesh of spirits and pulling it back out with a groan, while kicking away everything that stepped close to him and summoning light after light and attacking and calming the earth, fighting like a whirlwind more than a person, Chanyeol knew Baekhyun believed too.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment please!
> 
> Twitter - iexoeris


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry...please don't kill me.

# Chapter 11

 

The fight only worsened and moved away from the center, cornering them towards the woods. Some humans were still running around, not knowing where to go. And as Baekhyun summoned a bright dagger of light, a lady screamed –

“Help! I can’t see anymore!”

Chanyeol watched how Baekhyun’s wide eyes faced the lady and that small distraction from Baekhyun’s side provided enough time for a spirit to insert its deep, pointed wooden claws into his neck. Baekhyun wailed out, stabbing the light dagger into the spirit before falling to the floor. Chanyeol was about to rush to him when he shouted –

“Chanyeol! The lady!” Chanyeol turned around to see a spirit running towards the lady. He summoned a fire blast – it took some energy to summon it for the millionth time – before blasting it towards the spirit, who fell down. He ran towards the lady and stabbed the spirit before taking her to some safe place, where other humans were. This task took him away from the battlefield a.k.a where Baekhyun was fighting; injured.

After the lady was safe, Chanyeol ran back to the area to see Baekhyun, still on the ground, surrounded by every spirit ever. Chanyeol couldn’t see him clearly thanks to the thick crowd but he could see his movements. Baekhyun didn’t _get_ the chance to get up. Spirit after spirit attacked him and all he could do was trip them, stab them, summon light – every time he tried to get up, some spirit would push him down and attack him.

Chanyeol’s eyes filled with rage as his powers flurried through him, forming a huge fire blast that left him shaking. The blast opened a way to Baekhyun by dissipating one part of the spirits. Chanyeol ran through the path towards Baekhyun as the spirits closed on in them. He saw blood on the floor, and gashes on Baekhyun’s leather jacket.

This was _not_ good.

Before Chanyeol could help Baekhyun up, a spirit raked its claws through his shoulders and immense pain filled him and his vision darkened before coming to focus again. Chanyeol stumbled a little and was about to kill the spirit before he saw Baekhyun throwing another one of his light daggers at the spirit, killing it instantly.

“Kill them fast Chanyeol!” Baekhyun said, before turning away and Chanyeol felt a surge of respect run through his body for Baekhyun, who was fighting on the floor with so many injuries but still fighting.

This brought adrenaline in his body and he tilted his sword forward. And he stepped in the enemy ranks.

And for the next thirty minutes or so, Chanyeol fought like a demon. His sword raked through spirits, stabbed them in the right spots, as he ducked and swung his sword around while kicking away anybody that could hurt Baekhyun. The Legend of Light did the same – he crawled around the area, kicking fallen spirits away, stabbing every spirit’s foot and killing them at the speed of light. And soon, the crowd around them lessened, along with their energy levels.

Chanyeol offered a hand to Baekhyun, who got up, wincing.

“What happened?” Chanyeol asked, bending down to inspect but Baekhyun stopped him.

“Just a sprain,” The shorter mumbled, “Don’t worry.”

For half-a-second, Chanyeol allowed himself to look at the beauty that was Baekhyun. He looked beautiful even though he was beat, tired and bloody. Chanyeol was too.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, “Video-call the Base, tell them to take the humans away.” His eyes looked at the corner where many people had gathered – the people looked beat too. They were crying and were scared and hungry and hot.

Chanyeol nodded, moving towards the car and taking out his tablet. He called the base and they picked up. Chanyeol noticed that all of them were there – in the room on the Twelfth Floor, dressed for war. They were viewing him from the huge camera probably that covered everything in the room.

“Chanyeol,” Tao whispered, “Oh, god… you’re injured!”

Chanyeol hadn’t thought about it but he figured he was, so he just nodded.

“Baekhyun told me to-” He started but was cut off by Kyungsoo.

“Where is Baekhyun?” Chanyeol turned the camera to show Baekhyun, who was bleeding in several places and limping as he held back about half a dozen spirits on his own. Chanyeol didn’t miss the way their eyes widened as they took in the utter destruction of the place, and the humans behind Baekhyun or the huge army of spirits in the distance that was going to approach them.

“Shit” Kai muttered. Chanyeol shook his head. It summed everything up so nicely – _shit_.

“Anyway,” He said, turning back to the camera, “Guys, we have many human here that will probably get injured, now that we’re getting pushed back. We have to get them out of here.”

Xiumin nodded, “On it,” He opened his phone and started doing something, but Chanyeol couldn’t see.

“Chanyeol – take care of yourself,” Suho said, “And please – please stay safe-”

He was cut off by a loud scream on Chanyeol’s side. All of his hair stood up. It was Baekhyun. Chanyeol turned to see what had happened, showing everybody else at the base too, and the sight made his blood freeze.

A blade rested buried into Baekhyun’s shoulder and while Baekhyun struggled around the other spirits knocked him to the floor. Chanyeol placed the tablet on his car before rushing to Baekhyun. He summoned a huge ball of fire, almost losing consciousness because of how hard it was now – and swung it at the spirits, who dissipated (thankfully), having already been injured by Baekhyun.

Chanyeol lifted Baekhyun up and brought him in the car and he grabbed the tablet –

“Lay, tell me what to do!” He shouted. Everybody looked frozen on the other side, and no, it wasn’t because of the signal, “Hurry!”

“Take – take the blade out!” Lay said, pushing the others to come closer to the screen, “Take it out cleanly.”

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, who was blinking his eyes, trying desperately _not_ to lose consciousness because once, he did, it was over.

“Baek,” Chanyeol whispered, moving his fringe away, “Stay with me.”

He got to work, deft fingers cutting around Baekhyun’s shirt and jacket with a pocket-knife. He swiftly cleaned the area with a wipe as Baekhyun hissed in pain.

“Baekhyun, stay with me!” Chanyeol shouted firmly as everybody else on the other said shouted encouragements. When the wound was cleaned, Chanyeol grabbed the hilt but he was too scared to pull it out –

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, through gritted teeth, “Hurry.” His other arm pointed towards the wind-shield of the car and Chanyeol looked to see more spirits marching up and the humans panicking as nobody protected them. The others were panicked. Kyungsoo seemed to be crying through the video-call. Chanyeol pulled the blade out and Baekhyun screamed as waves and waves of torment washed over him. His hand, which was pointing at the wind-shield fell down and he felt like he was losing consciousness. His world blackened and blurred but Chanyeol’s face remained clear.

Soon, there was a bottle attached to his lips and Baekhyun gulped down the water. He winced as something cold was applied to his sound but relaxed when the pain eased. As his senses worked again and his vision cleared, he heard Lay shouting out command after command form the tablet –

“Now wrap it from under his arm! Yes, tie it upwards and make a knot!” Baekhyun blinked his eyes as Chanyeol’s face came into focus. The younger was biting his lips and was concentrated as he wrapped the bandage around Baekhyun’s bare shoulder. Chanyeol looked really handsome taking care of him. Baekhyun wanted to kiss him.

Baekhyun’s eyes shut as he felt protected but they opened when he heard a loud scream – that wasn’t him or Chanyeol. His eyes focused on the wind-shield and he saw a new wave of spirits, walking right towards the humans. Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol back with his free hand –

“Chanyeol, go! I’ll finish up this and come!” He commanded, already pulling his tore jacket up,

“But-” Baekhyun didn’t let Chanyeol protest.

“Go!” he pleaded and Chanyeol looked at him; his huge eyes filled with worry before they hardened.

“Alright.”

And he slipped out of the car with his sword. Baekhyun finished up bandaging quickly and turned towards the live –

“When are the enforcements coming? We NEED to get the humans out!” He exclaimed, grabbing his daggers, wincing as pain shot up through his ankle and shoulder simultaneously.

“Five minutes!” Xiumin shouted, “Keep the live on so that we can see!”

Baekhyun nodded, slipping out of the car and placing the tablet on the hood. He didn’t give the base a second glance as he started fighting the spirits. He summoned a large shard of light, which glinted in the dark night, and threw it with his good hand towards the new wave, which backed up immediately. Some people in the front even died. Good.

Baekhyun took out his double daggers ignoring the sheer pain rushing through his shoulders and limped towards the wave. He slashed and stabbed. He kicked people, ignoring the utter pain rushing through his body every time he moved. Baekhyun felt that this would be his last battle – but he was going to win.

Chanyeol ran up to him after killing off some spirits and they fought back to back. It seemed as if they’ve always fought together with how well coordinated they were.

“Baekhyun, duck!” Chanyeol shouted and Baekhyun did so without a word, a leg extending to kick away the approaching spirits as he spun on the floor, getting up again, ignoring the burning in his leg and swinging his dagger at the nearest spirit. He was getting tired but he wasn’t going to lose. No!

A loud, mechanical sound interrupted the fight and it’s only a second later that Baekhyun realized that it was a sound of a chopper – not one chopper – many choppers. Chanyeol looked at him –

“Rescue,” He whispered and as if it was some sort of agreement, Baekhyun went over to the humans who were hiding –

“Get into a line and get into the helicopters. It will take you to safety. Maintain a line. I’ll make sure none of you get hurt!” And probably it was the weird crazy look in his eyes, or the injuries he sported or the fact that they’ve seen him fight continuously for more than three-four hours now like a demon, but all of them listened to the slightly short, soon-to-be nineteen year old kid and former lines. The pilots came out along with a man that Baekhyun had seen many times when he went to the government.

“We brought water for you and medicines. Soon, we will send some war-machines to help. Right now, we have to go.” The man said and Baekhyun nodded, taking the water and meds and making sure everybody got in the plane. While Chanyeol continued to fight, Baekhyun went to the car, storing the meds and the water. He was panting, half-dead, bleeding and tired and he felt this urge to just…cry.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol’s voice called out and Baekhyun turned to look at the taller, who was absolutely wrecked, “Water.”

Baekhyun threw him a bottle while he swallowed some pain-killers. As he went back to fight, the others said from the tablet –

“Baekhyun, all the best.” They wished and he nodded gratefully before getting his double daggers out. There weren’t that many spirits left around. They might actually win this. A smile formed on his face – he could do this.

And Baekhyun fought bravely, switching from one stance to another and fooling his enemies fast and quick as his daggers flew in every possible direction and in that spur – he felt victory. He could taste it. It was so near, on his tongue. He could feel it, on every part of his body. They were going to win.

But alas, _victory,_ the Earth seemed to have decided, _is also a spur of the moment._

And then it happened.

What was ‘it’? Baekhyun couldn’t define it. It was bigger than words. It was a revolution. It was a change. It was a _major_ unbalance. It was the Earth coming to _life_.

Baekhyun could explain how it happened though.

The Earth started shaking harder, leading to both Chanyeol and Baekhyun watching out for each other and the trees started shaking, the leaves moving manically and growing in size, right on spot, paralyzing both of them in fear. Their friends shouted at each other and panicked on the other side. And then the sky lit up as lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the sky, lightening up. The lightning and thunder stuck continuously. _Abnormally_. It started raining heavily – the rain drops heavy like pelt and cold like ice, hurting Baekhyun and causing waves of pain shoot down to his toes as it hit his shoulder. And then he heard the whispers as the trees around them spoke, actually spoke –

 _‘You think you won, Legend of Light? You think you defeated us?’_ and then the voice came from beneath him, causing chills right up his foot – ‘ _But you’re wrong,’_ the voice seemed to snarl, ‘ _You’re nothing! Worthless!’_ The ground beneath him shook as Baekhyun’s head started aching – out of pain, out of cold, out of tiredness, and that sound was pulling him, breaking him apart. Memories started flashing in his head – the last time he heard those voices. And the trees and the earth started whispering – languages he didn’t understand, and some that he did. They spoke and they spoke and they didn’t stop.

Insults went round and round his mind as sanity slipped out of his hands.

_‘We are the Earth! You are pests residing in us!’_

‘ _You are nothing! You WILL come to ME!’_  Stop. Please.

‘ _Byun Baekhyun!’_ NO!

“Baekhyun!”

“Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered open as he realized it was Chanyeol calling his name. And he looked around himself, begging his senses to work. And when they did – he wished they hadn’t. He was on the ground, his head in his hands. Chanyeol stood in front of him. A big crowd of angry, livid and alive spirits surrounded them. The Earth shook _violently,_ and Baekhyun watched Chanyeol struggling to stand upright _._ And as Baekhyun tried getting up, his eyes focused on the building beside him – a tall apartment complex. And as he watched, the ragged cuts running through it widened and only a few moments later, Baekhyun realized what was going to happen. He tried getting up but something held him back in his place and as he looked down, he saw thick, black wooden branches wrapped around him and he understood what was happening.

_You will come back home to me, Byun Baekhyun. Don’t you want to see your parents? They rot in me, like you will._

Baekhyun’s world stopped at the familiar voice and his brain carried him seven years back. In woods like this…their car…they slept –

The building next to him collapsed, sending dust, sand and smoke everywhere and another blast sounded, sending their car right on fire as Baekhyun was pulled towards the Earth.

_Hello, welcome home._

  
  
  
  


“What do we do!?” Jongin asked, almost growling in anger, looking around at everything and everyone. The room was in a state of panic ever since their call disconnected. And what they saw as it ended wasn’t pleasant at all.

“I’m calling the government to hurry up!” Xiumin said, running out of the room, his footsteps sounded loud on the wooden floor.

For a moment, there was silence, which was broken by a loud sob –

Jongin looked back to see Kyungsoo crying on the couch, his tears falling freely. He walked towards him.

“Kyungsoo,” Jongin said, wiping away the tears of the other, “Don’t cry.” He stated simply, trying to ignore how his own tears were gathering, “Don’t.”

Kyungsoo shook his head, pushing Jongin’s hand away. His eyes were rimmed red and he looked… weak, unlike the normal, composed and hard Kyungsoo –

“Baekhyun…he – and Chanyeol-” He couldn’t complete, words giving way to sobs as he hugged Jongin. The younger felt his own tears slide down as he held Kyungsoo close to him; sharing his heat. He somehow knew that he had just seen the end.

“Suho-hyung,” Sehun said, standing up. His eyes were dark and angry, “Let me teleport there with Kai. We need to save them.”

Suho shook his head, “No.” It seemed as if took every ounce of courage he had to say this.

Sehun couldn’t hold himself backwards. He growled, tilting his body forward, his knee bumping into the table and making the candle fall –

“What do you mean –No!?” He growled, angrily – something that all of them had never seen before, “They’re either possibly dying, or maybe even…even-” He shook his head, not able to say the words out loud.

Another sob sounded. Tao was crying.

“Baekhyun – he was – pulled in…” Tao said and Lay rushed forward to massage his back.

“And a building collapsed.” Kris added, grimly, “And the car possibly burned. And Chanyeol…was fighting.” He finished.

Sehun shook his head, “We need to save them.”

Suho looked at him, painfully, as if all he wanted to do was rush to both of them, “If – the Earth is alive like that – then you know you can’t save them. And we – we can’t lose anymore members,” He shook his head, “We need to hunt right now, here. They’ll need to fight there-”

“What do you mean fight there?” Luhan shouted suddenly, shocking everybody because he had been really silent. He stepped forward in the light and chuckled darkly, “I’m sorry, but we just saw Baekhyun die and Chanyeol’s probably going to die soon too. What was the point of this?”

“The humans,” Lay said, standing up, leaving Tao on his own and looking at Luhan in the eye, “The humans are fine and rescued. _That_ was the point. Their mission is already complete.”

All pairs of eyes turned downwards, some looked at the screen where they had been talking with their friends… friends who possibly weren’t alive then.

“Let’s go,” A stern voice said and everybody was shocked to see Sehun, putting his gun up and his bow against his shoulders, “The Earth had taken enough revenge of its,” He looked around, his eyes calculating and soaking in every present member, “It is time that we take our _revenge.”_

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried while writing this. Twitter - iexoeris


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried so much...

# Chapter 12

 

Baekhyun felt like he was floating, which was funny, since he was just sinking deeper, letting his control go. His heart felt light, barely there. His head was not in its place – he was floating, light-headed. Soft voices coaxed him in deeper. They welcomed him home. He wanted to laugh but he knew tears would flow out instead. There was a serene sadness that came with the knowledge of giving up. Baekhyun had thought he would never give up, but he was wrong – completely wrong because there were some things _in_ him that he lost to. How was he supposed to fight against Nature?

He was weak, sinking, his head losing all control. He was going in. He could feel his last heartbeats.

Home.

_Beat._

The Earth.

_Beat._

It seemed so off, calling the Earth his home.

_Beat – slower this time, as his chest expanded and burned due to suffocation, but it was still serene and calm._

Why did it seem so off?

_Beat – just a few more than it probably won’t beat again._

Who was his home?

_His body burned as the beating of his heart got slower. It seemed like he was burning, fire spreading inside out._

Fire.

_He was burning._

Huge ears, a hand tugging at them.

_He was sinking, but he suddenly wanted to stop._

Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun’s eyes opened, and he saw mud and the ground around him. The sky could still be seen – the rainy sky up above – where Chanyeol was. It should be useless to try. He was already a good distance away from the ground, from the world. The heavy weight of branches and roots draped around him, covering his chest, bound around his legs, slowly, slowly, creeping up to his eyes – he would not see the world after a few seconds. He sank deeper.

_Chanyeol!_

Tears gathered in his eyes. No, he didn’t want to die – didn’t want to give up. His home wasn’t the Earth. He struggled, in vain. He couldn’t even move a finger with how the trees and the mud were wrapped around him and weighing him down. It was never done before – defying the Earth. It was ever done. He couldn’t possibly survive. The Earth sensed his struggle and started pulling him faster, harder.

His airways constricted even more and he felt he would die.

_No! Chanyeol!_

He wanted to sob, but he couldn’t. His eyes wanted to close. He wanted to give up and give in…but he was a bit twisted inside. He knew defying the Earth was something never done before – he just wanted to do it.

_Chanyeol._

With the name in his tongue, in his mind, in his heart, engraved on him, filled with longing to go back to his home, to _his_ Chanyeol, he called upon his light. It was funny – half-dead, injured, buried and not even breathing properly, but summoning his light. He wanted to shout, but he couldn’t. His body shouted for him though. The familiar tingle ran down his skin, except this time it was way stronger. It warmed him up, powered him. The branches encased him more but he was NOT going to lose. He wanted to see Chanyeol, even if it would be the last time he saw him – he wanted to fight together one last time.

Light radiated from his skin, from his heart, from _him._ The roots and branches tightened in a death grip. They were strong – it was their home. But he needed to go back – he needed to! He burned brighter, his body burning even more die to lack of oxygen and usage of his power when he was so dead. The light within him shone brighter in the dark, musky nature – a candle in the dark. He won’t give up. Ever.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he struggled – his head hurt but he _fought._ And the trees shifted, pushed him up, before trying to pull him back down. He gained many cuts, he knew, but he didn’t care for his blood that pacified the Earth. He just wanted to go _home._ His light shone brighter – the brightest he had ever shone. The roots and branches loosened around him and he was pushed up.

_Chanyeol._

Rain fell onto his head and he shone even brighter, giving life everything he had. It won’t stop him. Nothing would stop him. The sky became closer. He was stubborn. He wanted to go home!

_Chanyeol._

  
  


Chanyeol was devastated. His muscles ached, his blood seeped into the ground. Heavy rain weighted him down and the sense of loss filled him but the sense of duty was bigger. He won’t give up. Never. As Baekhyun helped the humans get in the chopper, he fought with everything he had in himself.

And then when Baekhyun was done, he asked for a bottle of water. It was all okay. And then he fought the spirits alongside Baekhyun – as if he had never fought before. They fought in perfect synchronization. He felt they might win – he knew Baekhyun felt the same way judging by his smile.

And then the earth shook.

Chanyeol called out for Baekhyun, who did the same. And the sky poured and flashed. Chanyeol was shocked; stupefied but Baekhyun was absolutely frozen because the Earth was speaking to him, deadly words. Chanyeol tried to shake him but Baekhyun didn’t respond. Tears trailed down his cheeks and his eyes were wide; frozen as if he was seeing a nightmare that Chanyeol couldn’t.

And then the spirits surrounded them. Baekhyun fell onto his feet and Chanyeol was scared, so scared because Baekhyun was the stronger one, not the other way around. But he knew he had to take initiative. He stood in front of Baekhyun, warding off the spirits and trying to shake the older off his stupor. It was useless. Chanyeol became focused on fighting and then, the buildings collapsed.

As Chanyeol turned to his side, he saw his nightmare come to life – branches surrounded Baekhyun – pulling him to the Earth. Chanyeol ran to him; but the debris of the building stopped him. And he flung a fire ball at the earth which changed its direction thanks to the wind and rain and hit an electric wire which caught fire, swung and set their car on fire. Chanyeol didn’t care. He shouted the name of the boy he loved and crossed the debris, but the land where Baekhyun had disappeared was nothing but empty land.

His knees fell to the floor as he wailed loudly. The words couldn’t register in his mind, but he knew –

_Baekhyun was gone._

  


Chanyeol wanted to cry, sit and weep. He didn’t care about anything. He wanted to surrender, but… he couldn’t. Not when this was the ting Baekhyun went under for, not when this was the thing that the boy dedicated seven years of his life too, not when all Baekhyun wanted to do was win. And Chanyeol was angry at the Earth, for taking away his beloved. So, he fought.

The pain hadn’t registered in his mind yet and Chanyeol didn’t want it to. He kept himself busy, his heart breaking just a little bit more every time he realized nobody was guarding his back. Tears streamed down his face, but in the heavy rain, nobody would realize. He chopped the spirits, hacked them, kicked them and killed them. He briefly thought how would his parents react to this – when they found he had ultimately died? He didn’t want to think about it. All he knew was that his chest was hurting, and no it wasn’t because of the injuries. It was because of the boy that went under.

Ironic, how Baekhyun – their best fighter was the first to give in. Ironic – how he went in like that. Ironic – how he went in when he had saved millions of people from not going in.

It was ironic, stupid and so bloody hurtful.

“AH!” He grunted as his sword came in contact with the head of another spirit. His body was focused on the fight but his mind went back to Baekhyun. His soft skin, his eyes, his pretty lips, the way he smiled – everything. Baekhyun. Baekhyun. Baekhyun. His glinting eyes. Everything in this whole fucking world was Baekhyun – who was not there anymore.

He fell onto his knees, heavy emotions weighting him down. He had already lost this fight.

Suddenly, the Earth beneath him started shifting. And no, it wasn’t the Earth shaking – it was the land shifting. Were spirits going to come out of mud like zombies now?

He looked back, where he felt the land was shifting and his heart stung. It was where Baekhyun had gone down. The spirits stopped marching. They seemed confused, which only confused Chanyeol more. Wait, if it wasn’t spirits coming out then…

Bright light shone out from the mud – the brightest light ever. Chanyeol averted his eyes. His heart couldn’t stop beating. Could it be…?

Curiosity got better of him and he looked back, shielding his eyes with one hand as the radiation increased. The spirits backed away. It was, wasn’t it? A slight smile formed on his face as hope filled his heart before the truth came back – there was no way. Once you went in, you couldn’t come out. What if it was the Earth again? Sadness bloomed in his heart again. And the light brightened even more so Chanyeol looked away, and for some reason, he didn’t look back. Because, in his mind, he knew there was no way it was _him._ And he didn’t want to be disappointed _that_ bad.

“Chanyeol,” A soft voice called out and Chanyeol’s eyes widened. It was his voice. No way. It must be the Earth messing up with him. He felt someone approaching him. Someone’s shadow cast on the floor in front of him.

“ _Chanyeol!”_ The voice sobbed and whether a trick of the Earth or not, Chanyeol didn’t like it when _that_ voice cried. So, he turned back and the sight in front made him cry. It was Baekhyun – twigs were attached to his hair, he was bleeding in many places, he was muddy all over but the rain washed it away and he was dirty but Chanyeol didn’t care at all as he pulled the boy towards him, into his chest, safe, at _home._

“Chanyeol!” The shorter sobbed, holding onto Chanyeol tight, “I – was so – am so-” He looked at Chanyeol, and the taller could see the fear, the death look in his eyes, the longing, the utter want in his eyes, “Scared,” He sobbed, “But I’m home.”

The words triggered something in Chanyeol – he pulls Baekhyun to his chest, his hands securing the boy in place. He’ll never let go. Baekhyun sniffled and sobbed in his hold – too tired to do anything, and even when an army of spirits marched towards them, he felt safe. He had given up all control. He trusted Chanyeol.

And Chanyeol noticed the spirits closing on in them. Most of the areas were destructed. And Chanyeol and Baekhyun had no more energy to fight. While Chanyeol could try and do something more, Baekhyun was done. He had already crossed the limits that should not be crossed.

Chanyeol helped Baekhyun up, “We have to go somewhere safe and pray that the rescue comes fast.” Baekhyun didn’t reply properly. He wasn’t in the right state to do so. He leaned heavily against Chanyeol. After his initial outburst at seeing Chanyeol, now he felt like the dead, just a little but worse.

Chanyeol laced an arm securely around his waist and threw fire balls at the spirit. Just then, a building in the distance collapsed, which created enough distraction for Chanyeol to run away from the scene. He felt sorry because their car containing their ways of communication, ammunition and weapons had burned but Chanyeol had a gun on him and Baekhyun did too – so they could fight long-distance or Chanyeol could. Baekhyun was too out of it.

He found safety near the edge of the town, behind some rocks. The rain had slowed down a little and it was hardly a drizzle and as the winds blew, Chanyeol realized how cold it was. Baekhyun shivered against him and Chanyeol tightened his hold. He half-dragged, half-carried Baekhyun to the shelter point and once there, he made Baekhyun rest against the rocks and took out the guns they had and filled them with bullets. There wasn’t currently any spirit in sight so they were safe. How long were they going to be safe for? Chanyeol didn’t know.

He traced Baekhyun’s cold cheek, “Hey,” Baekhyun leaned slightly into the touch, his eyes flickering open before closing down again. And Chanyeol was worried suddenly – because even though Baekhyun was with him, he was losing blood from his numerous injuries. If he closed his eyes then maybe, he wouldn’t… Chanyeol discarded the thought and focused back on Baekhyun, determined to make him talk. He felt selfish but he had to do this.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol patted his cheek, the flesh bouncing a little underneath his palm, “Baekhyun, hey!” Baekhyun’s eyes flickered open. They were… not how human eyes looked like. Their hue was light, way lighter than Chanyeol remembered, lifeless and pained. He wondered what happened to him when he was pulled.

“What happened to you?” He said, desperation creeping into his tone, “Tell me. Please, Baek – Baek, talk to me!” He pleaded, holding Baekhyun’s injured hands into his own, rubbing his thumb on the palms.

Baekhyun just looked at him for a while, before a sob slipped past his lips, “A lot – a lot happened.” He said, finally. Chanyeol felt movement and as he looked up, he saw an injured spirit walking towards the rocks. He shot it with his gun – the silencer was on so he didn’t have to worry about the sound. He turned back to Baekhyun.

“Tell me what happened exactly. Tell me everything about you. Tell me your past, everything,” Chanyeol pleaded, “Just – just keep talking.”

Baekhyun’s eyes became red and Chanyeol realized that the water on his cheek wasn’t rain but tears. He wiped them away and narrated the whole incident to Chanyeol – of how he was pulled inside – what he felt like – how sad memories raked up his mind – how he felt he was floating – how they kept welcoming him home and how he wanted to run back to Chanyeol – Baekhyun told him everything and by the end of it, he wasn’t the only one in tears.

“Baekhyun, I-” Words seemed hard to come out of his mouth. How was he supposed to feel when Baekhyun literally told him that he was the reason he was alive? When Baekhyun literally confessed to him? He wanted to cuddle the older, kiss the older, and make love to the older – and he would, just once when they get back to somewhere safe – one they were cleaned – he would, “You’re not the Legend of Light,” He said, “You’re – you’re something else. Something else, entirely. You did something none of us can – you’re the strongest. I don’t think there’s anything that can stop you. You can do it.” Chanyeol said encouragingly as he shot another spirit. Head shot. He leaned back all attention towards Baekhyun again and was surprised to see the older shaking his head –

“You don’t know Chanyeol.” His voice came out sadder, and lower and Chanyeol leaned in closer, “After everything, I can’t face myself…” His voice trailed as he closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, he seemed panic-shot, as if in the span of a second, he had seen all his nightmares come to life. Chanyeol studied him for a few seconds before he reached out to grab Baekhyun’s arm –

“Baekhyun,” He called out, his voice laced with concern, “Talk to me. Tell me.”

“It’s – it’s scary,” Baekhyun said weakly, his eyes rolling in a little.

Chanyeol shot another spirit, “Tell me.”

And probably it was the look in Chanyeol’s eyes – the adoration, the trust he provided, the strength in them, the emotion or the way Chanyeol was fighting – as it was their last (and it could have been) or the fact that Baekhyun was so tired, he didn’t feel like protesting, but more than that – he knew it was the trust. He trusted Chanyeol, enough to let him know about this.

And so he started, narrating the whole story in broken down sentences but Chanyeol listened. And Baekhyun spoke.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter - iexoeris
> 
> Comment down below!! Yall can write 2 words when I wrote 45K!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story comes to life...

# Chapter 13

 

_Baekhyun’s family had always been a nature-supporter, what with his mother being a biologist, his father being an environmentalist, and his elder brother, Baekbeom being a wildlife photographer – Baekhyun was young. He didn’t know what would be become but he knew it would be related to people or nature. He was a really social, innocent and talkative boy, who loved talking to people and he loved nature, so the two fields seemed appropriate for him._

_Baekhyun was the sunshine of the house. On the dinner table where every conversation contained serious environmental words and factors, Baekhyun with his child-like enthusiasm and charm talked about literally everything. His parents and his brother adored him, often spoiling him by giving him extra-pocket money and buying sweets for him. He wasn’t_ spoiled _though. He appreciated the actions and made them serve as motivation to work harder – he worked like that. Work harder, strive for better, rise higher. It was a simple mindset – yet it was hard to maintain, but not for Baekhyun. His parents and his brother were inspiration for him. They were his back-support._

_Baekhyun was that kind of kid who scored the highest, always hundred percent in his effort. He was in most of the clubs and had numerous achievements. His family however, did not treat his achievements as norm – and it was this factor that made him work harder. They celebrated him coming third – they celebrated his every achievement – whether small or big. They were a small, cozy happy family. Their house was quite cozy too – all pink and soft with plants and pets and dogs. His father always took him to his work and asked him to read books and understand more about the world. His mother was really kind and smart and she liked it when cute, little Baekhyun asked her endless questions. She was really wise and the things she taught Baekhyun could never be forgotten by him._

_And he enjoyed a lot with his seven-year older brother._

_Baekbeom had this cheery, mischievous smile, like his little brother. He would plead to their parents to allow Baekhyun to accompany him for camping out where he took his pictures and Baekhyun would hold tightly to his elder brother’s legs and pout disarmingly. They would be granted permission most of the time. Baekbeom was really responsible. He took great care of Baekhyun whenever they would be camping. It was a lovely family, where Baekhyun never had to care about his safety or other’s safety at that._

_But everything changed one Saturday night, 7_ _th_ _May – a day after his birthday._

_It was tradition in his family that every birthday should be celebrated by giving back to nature and that was the reason Baekhyun found himself in his parents’ car, waving to the trees outside the window, smiling innocently at them as they went up to Collardo Plain– at that time, it was a huge, forest area that a company – his least favorite company Webuild – at that time, a new, rising company in its field – planned to deforest. Many environmentalists, doctors, and other supporters had decided to camp out in the ground to show protest. It wasn’t anything dangerous – Baekhyun and his family had done things like this many times prior. There wasn’t any type of forewarning that he felt – he didn’t feel any nausea. He felt quite alright. And happy. And innocent. When they reached in the afternoon, he had been chasing some butterflies around with Baekbeom, who was clicking pictures of the insect._

_There was a particular picture – with the butterfly resting on Baekhyun’s cheeks – which he still had. It reminded him of the times when he was better._

_The people around all knew the Byun siblings – who were filled with vitality and strength and shared a lot of love. Baekhyun and Baekbeom were closer than most siblings, despite their age-gap. They regularly told each other that they loved each other and kissed each other’s cheeks, and tickled each other. Their puberty couldn’t stop it. They had a record for never fighting – or minimum fighting, because Baekhyun was understanding and so was Baekbeom – they were prefect. Baekhyun had been raised with a lot of love – his lunch had always been home-made, by any three of his family members, and they always included ‘I love you’ notes in his lunch. They had Family Fridays and were a really happy family. Baekbeom and Baekhyun never lied to his parents – when Baekbeom first started dating, he announced the affair right that day on the dining table, albeit shyly, and his parents welcomed the girl. When Baekhyun, realized that while he liked girls, he liked boys more – his parents and brother were understanding. There were many instances where Baekhyun had felt he was blessed to have such an amazing family._

_He loved them._

_But,_ alas, _love, was also a spur of the moment for our mud-faced earth._

  


_That night, after the boys were tired out and their parents were sleepy, all of them slept on the ground, on top of a blanket, in the open. There weren’t any mosquitos there in that season and the heat hadn’t struck yet so it was quite safe. Baekhyun slept to the side, Baekbeom on his right, followed by his parents – but he couldn’t sleep. While the others had fallen asleep quite quickly, Baekhyun found himself lying awake staring at the wide expanse of stars in front of him. He was mesmerized. During those times, you could still see the stars._

_He stared at them; those endless flickering lights – they felt really close to him, as if both the stars and he were made of the same stardust._

_And then he felt movement beneath him._

_Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he felt the Earth shaking. His just-turned twelve years old mind shouted ‘_ Earthquake _!’ He knew quite a lot about Earthquakes at his age, thanks to his parents. And he knew that sleeping on the open wasn’t harmful really, but there were a lot of trees here that could topple over and hurt them. He shook Baekbeom –_

_“Baekbeom! Hyung!” He whispered right into his brother’s ears, but Baekbeom didn’t wake up, just merely shifted a little, “Baekbeom!” He shouted loudly and then looked around – nobody was awake. Baekhyun at that time hadn’t known that even if they were all awake, the result would still have been the same, if not worse, because two years into the future, as 14-years old Baekhyun, looked into the computer screen with tears in his eyes, looking through records – he would have realized that the whole of Collardo plain was a major red danger area that particular night._

_“Mommy! Daddy!” Twelve-year old Baekhyun kept shouting, shaking his parents awake, to no avail, and then the first root sprang up. It wrapped around the leg of a lady, who was close to his mother. And then another branch wrapped around – the leg of his mother. He was scared, so scared, but he moved forward and clutched the branch trying to shake it off, but he was too weak. He looked at his mother – she was smiling blissfully. His eyes widened in fear._

_His mother, who was the wisest woman, should know that this…this branch was bad news. Then why – why was she smiling?_

_Branches shot up wrapping around everybody and a low, feminine, lazy voice filled the area –_

Well, what a feast, tonight.

_Baekhyun froze and tears streamed down his cheek. The voice came from nowhere and yet, everywhere. And he somehow knew that it came from the Earth. He didn’t know what was happening but knew that it needed to be stopped, so as a simple, innocent kid he shouted –_

_“Stop!”_

_The branches stopped moving and the voice chuckled._

If it isn’t Byun Baekhyun – carrier of light. I apologize, darling. It isn’t your turn yet.

_And then more branches and trees sprang up wrapping around his parents. Baekhyun didn’t understand the words but he remembered them and they sent chills down his back. But he didn’t know what to do. The sky thundered and lightning flashed._

_Baekhyun hated thunder and lightning. They scared him. He crept up to his parents –_

_“Mom! Wake up!” When he didn’t get any reply, he turned to his dad, whose face was covered by the roots, “Daddy!”_

_Nothing happened. They just sank deeper and as Baekhyun’s eyes widened he understood what was going to happen. They were going in. The voice_ was _the Earth._

_“No…” His eyes were disbelieving, wide and lost. Anger pooled up in his chest, “No!”_

_A shard of light shot up from his hand and hit the roots on the neck of his brother. The roots immediately rushed away._

Don’t do that to him, Byun Baekhyun. He is miserable without me.

_The Earth’s voice sounded and Baekhyun frowned. He was afraid – newly afraid of himself, because he knew that light couldn’t have crept up from his hand…right? But then why were his insides tingling? He didn’t know what was happening. Confusion filled his little brain. Suddenly, the family next to his went under – he realized – they were dead. His chest hardened as he cried and he tried for the light thing again._

_“Come out!’ He shouted and another beam of light shot out from his hand and tore the roots around his brother’s body, whose eyes flickered open. Yes, his brother was alive and conscious! He wanted to cry, but then he noticed that Baekbeom was crying._

_“Baekbeom – Baekbeom!” Baekhyun shouted, crawling over to his brother and trying to hoist him up but his brother shook his head._

_“Home, no!” He thrashed, “I want to…home.”_

_Baekhyun’s eyes widened and at once, he realized that his brother was glowing golden, his eyes were covered in a golden and green haze. His vision was clouded._

_“Baekbeom, what – what are you-?” His words broke as his brother held the roots tightly. The expression on his face was blissed – eternally happy, as if this was the purpose he was born to serve. And right,_ right _in front of his eyes, the roots wrapped faster around his brother and he was gone beneath the surface – the blanket that they were sleeping on already long gone –_

_And as Baekhyun turned to the other side, towards his parents, they went down too – Baekhyun held onto his parents and a warmth spread over him, comfort – but, but this wasn’t real comfort. He was…getting pulled under. He held onto their arms, not letting go. But his parents started writhing –_

_“Stop!” His father shouted and Baekhyun’s eyes widened. He had never spoken to him in a loud voice, “I want to go home!”_

_“My home…” His mother mumbled and they slipped into the earth, leaving Baekhyun sitting there – his arms stretched and empty. He couldn’t move. He was frozen._

_And then the Earth said –_

Hello, welcome home.

  


Baekhyun broke into sobs and as Chanyeol reached in to comfort him, he shook his head, before continuing –

 

_And then, and then, Baekhyun sat there for a long time, frozen, his hands grasping out nothing. He was simply, frozen. Might as well have been dead._

_And then the Earth_ giggled.

 _And Baekhyun felt rage clash into him, the blood pound underneath his skin, his eyes blown-side in anger, a dark look that was never there, embodied on him and he asked one word - one word that was filled with so much emotion that one can’t contemplate – that one word that delivered – one_ word –

“Why?”

And the Earth said –

_Revenge._

  


And then the story was done. Baekhyun looked up, looking at Chanyeol. The King of Fire wondered – he just wondered – how was it humanely possible for someone to have been through so much? Why did someone have to suffer so much? Why? Just like the twelve year Baekhyun had questioned when his family had died in front of him, a day after his birthday, all those years ago, Chanyeol asked the world – _why?_

Baekhyun looked at him; tired. He had never looked more tired and he had never been. To top off all the injuries that he had gained, now there was so much mental and emotional trauma surrounding him. Chanyeol looked at his face – at those lifeless eyes, at that beautiful, dirty face, at those soft, bloody lips, at that scarred nose and he found himself leaning forward.

Baekhyun sobbed and Chanyeol realized – _add some romantic drama to that list_.

Baekhyun leaned forward and grabbed his face, cupping his cheeks with his bloody hands. Chanyeol’s big hands settled on the back of Baekhyun’s head and his back and he tilted his head to catch those lips – he didn’t care much if somebody killed them. He would die kissing Baekhyun.

Lips brushed against lips, and soon their hunger grew as their tongue found each-other. They tasted of blood but there was still trace of the ice-creams they had eaten earlier that day. Tears streamed down Baekhyun’s cheeks continuously and the lip-lock started tasting like blood, sweat and tears but Chanyeol didn’t mind it all. He wanted to feel Baekhyun – just Baekhyun without anything else. Only Baekhyun.

Their heat intermingled with each other. They were finally together. The kiss was intense and passionate and yet, it was caring. Both of them didn’t want to hurt each other in the least. Care for the other flew in their soft and yet, so intense and passionate touches. Chanyeol’s hand roamed up and down Baekhyun’s body – up and down the remains of leather. Chanyeol craved Baekhyun so bad. He tilted his head, to gain a better access and kissed Baekhyun even more passionately. The older responded enthusiastically and soon, they separated – their foreheads touching, noses brushing, and hands holding each other.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, whose skin was redder. And his eyes bore into his lover’s, looking how they seemed more alive, more normal, more Baekhyun. And they just stared at each other and took themselves in.

Baekhyun broke this eye-contact first. By _giggling._ His breath clashing softly against Chanyeol’s skin.

Chanyeol tried to look offended but he couldn’t help the smile he had on his face.

“I mean after all this,” Baekhyun breathed, “I finally got to kiss you. In a battlefield, without being interrupted. How ironic.”

Chanyeol laughed breathily at that, leaning in to peck Baekhyun, who just blushed and then he looked up and looked at Chanyeol, in the eyes, his eyes tried, lifeless, but a little alive and soft –

“I love you.”

Chanyeol’s heart skipped a beat. But as it settled in, he felt ease in his muscles, as if the universe was finally functioning the way it had to.

“I love you too.”

And Baekhyun started to say something, but a sound of a chopper interrupted him. His eyes widened –

“Rescue.” He whispered and Chanyeol looked up to see the helicopter dip and fire wherever the spirits were, causing mass fire and destruction. Chanyeol couldn’t help it, but his eyes watered a little. The city was going to burn. It was obvious and aimed for.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, and was surprised to see the other holding a large – the largest shard of light Chanyeol had ever seen. He did this to alert the pilot that they were there.

“Stop it!” Chanyeol shouted.

And Baekhyun looked at him in a questioning way.

“Baekhyun! You’re gonna fade. You’ve used too much power. Stop!” He scolded and the light user frowned as if not understanding his words before the light shard broke into a million beautiful pieces and Baekhyun collapsed into his arms. Chanyeol’s breath was heavy as he checked Baekhyun’s pulse – still there and it was only after he put his hand firmly across the chest of the midget, feeling his heartbeat that his breath relaxed.

_Stupid, Idiotic, Over-achieving Byun Baekhyun – who was in love with him._

Chanyeol couldn’t help the smile on his face. Baekhyun loved him back. Baekhyun kissed him. Baekhyun was okay. They might actually survive.

But then Chanyeol realized that the Earth was still shaking. This realization came like the Earth saying – _I’m still alive, bitch._ And he knew this had to stop for the copter to land properly. So, Chanyeol filled with energy and strength of love, roared and crashed his hand against the ground, watching as fire formed two wings – big wings, the biggest he had even summoned and went directly into the Earth, stopping the Earthquake – half stopped already when Baekhyun came out and now this - and then he felt it, as his consciousness slipped away – the Tree of Life ticking as the intensity of fire and light increased – putting the tree back into balance.

  
  
  
  


Xiumin ran into the room where nine other people, drained from their recent fight were sitting. He stopped by the door, breathless, and everybody turned to look at him; their expressions grim, unlike Xiumin who shouted loudly –

“Guys! GUYS!” He walked into the room, stumbling and gasping, “The rescue that I called – they contacted me!”

The nine pairs of eyes looked at him –

And then he said, “BOTH OF THEM MADE IT!!”

Disbelief, amazement and cheers filled the room at once –

“But Baekhyun-”

“Chanyeol was alon-”

“No way-”

“I knew it-”

“How-”

“I don’t know much details,” Xiumin said, calming them down, “Baekhyun was injured really badly but he was alive and he was the one who let the rescue know where they were with a gigantic shard of light and Chanyeol – he calmed the Earth down.”

Everybody looked at each-other before all of them unconsciously summoned the Tree of Life and it was there was all of them to see –

The branch of light and the branch of fire glowing way more powerful combined than the roots of the tree. It was obvious.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were you shocked? Surprised? Happy? Let me know your thoughts!!
> 
> Twitter - iexoeris.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are - the last chapter.

# Chapter 14

 

Baekhyun stepped out of the shower of the private-luxury room that he and Chanyeol were sharing. Most of his injuries were recovered and the others were bandages. In a span of eighteen hours, he was refreshed form the most devastating battle ever. He hadn’t seen Chanyeol much – what with him blinking in and out of consciousness but now he would. He knew that the other was sitting on their king-sized bed. And Baekhyun had too much staying away from him – now he was going to get what he craved.

Both of them were deprived. They wanted – no they needed each other after all that had happened. Baekhyun wrapped a pink towel around him, ready to step out of the washroom. Ever since, he had told Chanyeol about his past, he felt more relaxed and calm. More accepting of himself. He was happy.

Baekhyun opened the door and Chanyeol smiled while greeting him, before he realized that the older was only wearing a towel. Baekhyun smirked and sat on the bed, next to Chanyeol, who was decently dressed in loose shorts and a loose T-shirt.

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, giggling at Chanyeol’s red face.

“H-hey,” Chanyeol stuttered, looking at Baekhyun’s bare shoulders that he wanted to kiss, before he looked at Baekhyun’s face and a smile lit up on his face, “You look good. Healthy,”

Baekhyun knew he was referring to the fact that Baekhyun looked like a war-victim (which he was) just eighteen hours ago. But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease Chanyeol.

He stood up, his hands holding the towel, “So, will I look better without this on?”

Chanyeol blushed again before smiling widely, and shaking his head, “You might, but I think you’ll look best under me.”

It was Baekhyun’s turn to blush. For all the confidence that he oozed, he was a virgin. He was always too busy fighting. But luckily, he came to know Chanyeol was one too –

“I wasn’t really the popular figure, you know.” Chanyeol said, preparing him. Even then, Chanyeol knew what he was doing. He asked Baekhyun for his consent every time he did something. He planted kisses all over Baekhyun, marking him and he was guilty of doing the same to Chanyeol. They felt each other, traced each other, enjoyed their heat, drank in each other, whispering ‘I love you’ and taking care of everything as they made love.

And after many years, Baekhyun was able to let it all go and red tainted his skin. For the first time, Baekhyun felt somebody else could take care of him.

For the first time, Baekhyun felt loved and he let Chanyeol spill inside him.

“I love you,” Baekhyun said, tiredly, holding Chanyeol close.

“I love you too,” Chanyeol planted a kiss on his forehead and Baekhyun smiled as warmth, comfort and that feeling of being safe and protected and wanted filled him. He was home.

  
  
  
  
  


“You’re alive!!” Kyungsoo ran up to him as he entered the base, hugging him tight. Baekhyun smiled as the other members filled in, hugging him and Chanyeol, and asking them about everything – from the scars on Baekhyun’s body to the hickeys.

Baekhyun blushed. He had a _lot_ to tell them.

  
  
  


“Hey,” Chanyeol whispered as he sneaked into Baekhyun’s room that night. The older smiled and shifted on his bed to make some space for him. Chanyeol sat on his bed gracefully, planting a kiss on top of Baekhyun’s head.

They talked for a bit about how the members were so surprised when they recounted everything that had happened and how they were so emotional. “ _You’re so strong, hyung. So strong.” Sehun had cried._ They were all amazed at the fact that Baekhyun made it out of death. Baekhyun told them everything – how he was pulled down and then about his family. He didn’t hide anything. They were all a team. They deserved to know. Suho had told him – “ _I am proud of you Baekhyun-ah. So proud.”_ And that had made Baekhyun tear up a little because Suho _was_ there for him. _Always._

And they talked about Suho’s plan – _“If all of us were able to summon power like that, I think we can win. A final fight.”_ And everybody agreed. Baekhyun did too. Because The Tree of Life hadn’t shifted in all these days. If they could all summon power like that…there were chances.

And then Chanyeol said, “I’m going home tomorrow. Gonna stay there for a while.”

Baekhyun smiled at him and nodded. Chanyeol had almost died. Of course, he wanted to see his family but for some reason, Baekhyun was hurt by the idea. He would definitely feel Chanyeol’s absence – they had just started dating and besides, he envied the fact that Chanyeol had someone to go home too… Baekhyun had only Chanyeol. He knew it was wrong of him to think this way but he couldn’t help it.

But then Chanyeol said, “But I have a request.”

Baekhyun tilted his head, “What is it?”

Chanyeol looked at him seriously, “My parents said he wanted to meet my boy-friend.”

Baekhyun looked at him, confusedly for a split second before he realized, “Are you, perhaps, saying I-?”

Chanyeol smiled disarmingly at him, the smile doing something to Baekhyun’s heart, “Come home with me Baekhyun-ah. Stay with me for a few days. You said you liked my home. Make it your home then.”

And Baekhyun’s eyes were wide as he stared at him. He couldn’t believe it. For others, it would have been a useless and small request. For Baekhyun – who didn’t have a family anymore – it meant everything.

“Can I?” His voice came out smaller than how it was.

Chanyeol scrunched his eyebrows, as if thinking. Baekhyun hit his arm –

“Stop!” Chanyeol laughed heartily before pinching Baekhyun’s cheeks –

“You’re cute.” That made Baekhyun blush.

“So I can?” Baekhyun notched an eyebrow and Chanyeol smiled mischievously at him –

“If you let me make love to you tonight, you can.”

And Baekhyun smiled at that as he lay back onto the bed and pulled Chanyeol over him – giggling as Chanyeol planted wet kisses everywhere on his face.

He was in love.

And he felt powerful.

 

Their last battle happened three months later – when all of them had already completed Level Twelve and gained maximum control of their powers. After many weeks, the Earth spoke again and the Tree of Life shifted. Baekhyun wasn’t afraid this time of the words or the voice.

They fought an entire army of spirits right in front of the public. (Everybody who had parents had already revealed to their parents that ‘hey, I’m your son, but I’m sort of protecting the earth by balancing the tree of life’) It had taken some time but they were comfortable fighting out in the public now and they had already practiced evacuation and rescue operations so they saved all the humans. The battle was much more stressing than that one – but Baekhyun was better in this one. He killed the enemies, like he usually did, his double daggers moving at a non-human rate. And add Chanyeol behind him, fighting with his sword – he felt powerful and alive. Chen and Baekhyun had fun insulting the Earth – ‘Mud-face, stop interrupting us!’ ‘Imagine being the Earth – lame,’ – they fought to the best of their capability.

And when there weren’t that many spirits left, all of them struck their weapons to the ground, creating a huge mass of power in the sky – the biggest water fountain ever, the biggest fire volcano, the largest shard of light, the strongest wind, Kai teleporting here and there – and all the other powers and they just _slammed_ it to the floor, and watched how the rain and the lightning stopped and right in front of them, the Tree of Life appeared, however this time – the powers intensified, the branches became bigger and brighter and the roots became smaller – and in front of their eyes, the Tree of Life shattered. The branches, the roots, the trunk – everything became a picture and it shattered. The Earth stopped speaking. Spirits stopped existing. Everything quietened down and twelve unconscious bodies crashed to the ground, but they knew they had won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS A JOURNEY.
> 
> Please, please comment. I really enjoy reading them. This was really difficult for me to write. You can always follow me on Twitter - iexoeris. Thank you so much for reading this!


	15. Epilogue (1 Year Later)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because, I am nice - here, have an epilogue.

# Epilogue (1 Year Later)

 

“Hey, Park Chanyeol!” Baekhyun marched up to his boyfriend, holding a broom in his hand, his chest puffed up, “Guess what?”

Chanyeol frowned at him, leaning up from where he was watering some trees, and pushed his annoying boyfriend’s face back with his huge palm, “What?”

Baekhyun looked scandalized as he removed Chanyeol’s hand, “How could you do this to you amazing boyfriend?”

Chanyeol bit back a smile at how offended and _puppy_ Baekhyun looked, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

Baekhyun pouted like a child and Chanyeol leaned in to peck his soft, pink lips that he could feast upon anytime. They were his, after all. Baekhyun smiled at that before the evil glint in his eyes returned –

“The college’s Student Council got the room that your stupid-ass Snow Boarding Team wanted for storing,” He sang, looking really annoying. And then he put his hands behind his waist, smiling innocently at Chanyeol while blinking and tilting his head from one side to another, “Are you pissed? Or are you pissed?”

Chanyeol just groaned, “Let’s go home Byun Baekhyun and then I’ll show you.” Baekhyun just smiled at him and Chanyeol groaned again, “Why do you even want that room?”

Baekhyun fake-gasped, “It’s important! Besides, don’t argue with me here. You’ll show me when we get home, right?” He winked and Chanyeol couldn’t help the blush that spread down his cheeks. He looked at Baekhyun – all skinny and cute and hot and infuriating. He would have shown a thing or two to the midget right then if Chen hadn’t interrupted them –

“You won’t get to do _anything_ back at Base because we’re all going to be celebrating third years winning this week. Again.” Chanyeol scoffed at him and started watering the flowers faster, while Baekhyun just walked up to Chen with that same annoying look –

“Look, Chen-sweetie, I’m sorry, but I control light. And you know, light helps clear dust and is required by the plants, right? And Suho controls water – we can clean things even faster while Chanyeol can burn away all the ugly things, plus Sehun, Kai and D.O. and Tao are all…” He paused, bopping Chen’s nose, “ _Second years_. Last week, we slacked off. We’ll win this time.”

Chen just scoffed at him and went back to his team and then Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol, “Oh god, Chanyeol, we’re going to lose so badly. Hurry up and clean!” He commanded before shouting at all second-years to clean up the whole area so that they can take the ‘Weekly Clean and Green,’ trophy home – or back to their base, which was still needed for many other things, such as celebrating, leading cleanliness parties, or sometimes eradicating some left over baddies. Everybody was focused on the planet, and even though Chanyeol despised the old-mud lady, she deserved this. She hadn’t spoken once ever since the Tree of Life was destroyed. It had been just plain earth since then, like it was many years ago. But this time, people were aware and they wanted to save nature. After all, it was their home.

Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun – his love, whose eyes were shining brightly as he commanded people and cleaned the ground like a mad-man. Chanyeol walked over to him and hugged him from the back.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked, turning to look at Chanyeol, his eyes wide and soft as he looked at his tall and adorable boyfriend.

Chanyeol hugged him closer and kissed him on the lips, passionately. Baekhyun responded to the kiss, holding Chanyeol’s face in his hand –

“Just thinking about how much I love you.” Chanyeol stated breathlessly. Baekhyun moaned into the kiss, before smiling toothily at Chanyeol.

“Nice thinking.” He laughed before pulling Chanyeol even closer, “I love you too.”

Chanyeol smiled at him and ruffled his hair, “So tell me – when can I propose to you? I planned I’ll do it tonight but if we lose this cleaning thing, then I won’t.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened and he stepped back, “Wait, you’re legit?” His voice had a breathy laugh to it – and it was disbelieving.

Chanyeol hummed, “Mh-hm,” He patted his pocket and Baekhyun’s eyes widened even more. He separated from Chanyeol’s hold as if he was going to run away before leaning in to kiss Chanyeol again –

“You’re going to propose tonight – just wait.” He said threateningly, sending chills down Chanyeol’s back and went to shout at everyone to clean as if their life depended on it. It was comical – watching midget Baekhyun howl commands, but everybody respected him. Everybody respected the twelve figures who had saved them. Thus everybody listened to Baekhyun and cleaned harder –

 _Shit,_ Chanyeol thought as he took out the plastic-ring he had in his pocket (noting to himself to buy a diamond one after classes ended), _he loved Baekhyun._

  
  
  


 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally over!! I love this story. It's my baby! Follow me for more babies! And talk to me at iexoeris at Twitter.


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